Snatched
by xxKLxx
Summary: What if only Hermione was captured in the woods after the trio was spotted by snatchers? Two months of captivity with Malfoy bringing her food everyday. How will she convince him to let her go in the lead up to the battle? Will he side with his family or the girl he feels sorry for? Continues after the battle, Australia, more drama and into late HEA life. Rated M for loads of smut!
1. Chapter 1

**HI GUYS! Welcome to another addition of "so i think i can write fan fiction".  
I've been thinking of an idea for weeks and i now think i have it all mapped out ready to write. **

**What if Harry and Ron didn't get taken to Malfoy Manor when the snatchers came? What if the trio was separated?**

 **I'll only say this once, I don't own this enterprise, we all know who does. I do own most of the words below, apart from some initial lifting of words from pages 355-365 of Deathly Hallows to get us started. For those who haven't read the books in a long time, the trio doesn't stumble upon snatchers after leaving the Lovegoods (as per the movie). They're in the tent, listening to the wireless when the taboo is broken (Stupid Harry).**

 **Anyhoo, please, enjoy and review. I do this for you guys... No, just kidding, this is purely for me and my desire to escape into this incredible world that was created for all of us.**

"I've got it, I've got it. The password was Albus. Get in here Harry!" Ron called excitedly, as the trio sat one March day, trying to figure out what their next move should be. They had spent the last several months tracking down horcruxes and only slightly closer to ridding the world of Voldemort than when they started.

They had so far managed to acquire the locket and the sword of Gryffindor and had only vague ideas of where to look next. Their most recent discovery was that of the Deathly Hallows, which was continually on Harry's mind.

Ron's excited voice was a welcome distraction in an otherwise mundane day. They had been trying for weeks to figure out what the password for the Wireless was so they could hear some word from the outside world. Hearing the voice of Lee Jordan relaying a list of the names of people who had most recently lost their lives was bitter sweet, as they were desperate for news of the outside to ensure the safety of people they cared about, but saddened to hear of the loss of so many.

Kingsley Shacklebolt discussed the impact upon the muggle world before the unmistakable voice of Lupin joined them. Harry was pleased to hear his voice and to know he was safe. Lupin was proclaiming without a doubt that he knew Harry was alive. He wished more than anything that he could reach out and let them know, but that would risk sacrificing everything they had achieved in the past 8 months. It wasnt much, but it was more than when they started out. The unmistakable and cheery voices of Fred and George joined the conversation and with their usual witty jokes and humour, Harry, Ron and Hermione had managed a laugh for the first time in a long time.

They had discovered, within the wireless discussion that Xenophilius Lovegood had been imprisoned, Hagrid had just narrowly escaped, after hosting a "Support Harry Potter' party in his hut before coming to an end and Voldemort may or may not be out of the country.

"But did you hear what Fred said?" asked Harry excitedly, "He's abroad! He's still looking for the elder wand, I knew it!"

"Harry…"

"Come on Hermione, why are you so determined not to admit it? Vol…"

"HARRY, NO!"

"…demort's after the elder wand!"

"The name's taboo" Ron bellowed, leaping to his feet as a loud crack sounded outside the tent.

As the trio held their breath, the sneakoscope on the table lit up and began to spin. They could hear voices outside that were coming nearer and nearer. Rough, excited voices.

"Come out here with your hands up!" sounded one of the voices, "You're surrounded by half a dozen wands and we don't care who we curse!"

Everything seemed to happen at once as the three of them complied. Hermione cast a jinx that made Harry unrecognizable before they exited the tent and came into the view of the snatchers. The three of them threw their wands at the feet of the snatchers when prompted and attempted to remain calm as they were questioned.

Time seemed a strange concept as the minutes ticked by. Questions were answered with whatever lie they could come up with, hearts were beating quicker than any of the thought possible and their breaths seemed to be numbered.

"Vernan Dudley, you're not on our list… Barney Weasley, did you say?" the snatcher asked Ron, who had provided a name that he hoped would throw them off. "Weasley…? You're related to the blood traitors!"

"The girl… Penelope Clearwater, was it? You're not on the list neiver" said another snatcher as he flipped through a pocket book. "What's your blood status girly?" he asked Hermione.

"Half blood" said Hermione, clearly terrified but managing to hold her composure.

"You lot look to be Hogwarts age, what are you doing camping out here?" he asked.

"We left" Ron said.

"You know the dark lords name's been tabooed, don't ya's?" asked the snatcher who was nearest to Harry. "Some of them lot from the Order of the Phoenix have been snatched that way… Anyhow, seeing as how you ain't on our lists, you can come with us till we sort it out. Tie them up with the other two prisoners" he ordered his fellow snatchers.

As the second snatcher began tying up the group, Hermione was taken aside.

"I'll take 'er separate" said the first snatcher. "I like 'er smell" he said.

"I really think…." Hermione began.

"You're not here to think girly, do as you're told, be who you say you are and there won't be any problems" he said.

As the third snatcher tied up the group, Harry noticed that the wands the group had thrown to the ground had not all been collected. They had thrown four wands in total, however the snatchers had only picked up three, the upside to them being dumb as doorposts. Harry pretended to stumble and fell to his knees, copping a kick to the ribs. The pain was worth it, as he collected the wand from under the leaves, slipping it up his sleeve in one swift motion.

"Dean?" Ron whispered when they were tied up.

"It is you! If they find out who you are… Merlin… They're only after truants that they can sell. Let's hope they don't realise" whispered a tired, thin, hungry looking Dean Thomas.

"I have a wand" whispered Harry, "I'm going to take out this one first then you grab the other wands" he said.

"At this, Dean's eyes darted down to Harry's sleeve and before anyone knew what had happened, he had taken the wand right from Harry's hand.

"Sorry Harry, but I can't go back to that place" he said, as he began to turn on the spot. Harry grabbed Dean's arm just in time to look to Hermione's terrified face and see the look of horror and shock, as they disapparated out of the forest.

Harry, Dean and Ron landed in a grassy field that Harry didn't recognise.

"What the fuck, Dean? What did you do?" Ron yelled as they got their bearings.

"I had to take the opportunity to get out of there. I'm sorry, but Hermione is the brightest witch of our age, she'll get away, surely" he said sheepishly.

"Not when you just bloody gave her away!" said Harry, running his hands through his hair in frustration, the stinging jinx wearing off and his face returning to normal.

"What do you mean?" asked Dean.

"We gave fake names... you said _my_ name just before we left. I bet they've killed her by now or handed her over to you-know-who" Harry said.

"I… I'm sorry. I just… It's been so long. I haven't eaten, I haven't slept. You have no idea what it's like!" Dean said.

"Yeah… we do! We've been running since August, hiding our faces, eating mushrooms and dirt… " Ron yelled.

"Look, all this arguing isn't going to save Hermione, we need a plan" said Harry.

"Give us that wand and we'll go back" Ron said, closing in on Dean.

"Wait, I brought us here for a reason. There's some spare wands stashed over there in that barn. Some food too. If we can just stock up before we go it might make it easier" Dean said.

"Ok, but we get wands then we go straight back to that forest!" said Harry, authority radiating off him.

A few short minutes later, pockets filled with snacks and with two wands each, the small group disapparated to the forest where they had been only minutes earlier. They arrived prepared to fight immediately, to rescue Hermione and take her back to that barn, but when they arrived, all they saw was their tent, ransacked and abandoned.

Harry looked around, ran up to a nearby hill and looked as far as he could see in every direction. He saw no sign of Hermione or the snatchers anywhere.

"FUCK!" yelled Ron as he turned and punched Dean fair in the nose.

"You earned that" said Harry as he walked past the pair and into the tent.

As Harry gathered up whatever possessions the snatchers left behind, Ron and Dean approached, Dean holding his sleeve up to his nose.

"Look, I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, I'll help you find her" he said with a shrug.

"Just another fucking thing to find… You better hope she's still alive, or you'll find yourself in whatever state she's in!" Ron said.

"At least we have this..." Harry said, holding up Hermione's beaded bag that had been hidden inside a pot.


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione was led through a grand entrance and into a large round room. She was shaking from fear or from the cold, she wasn't sure. She was certainly afraid and also felt the icy chill that seemed to be coming from the house itself. The atmosphere was generally depressing, but made worse by the events of the last half an hour.

She looked to Harry and saw him looking down at his hand. Dean had grabbed the wand that Harry had managed to get from beneath the leafy forest floor and was starting to turn on the spot. Hermione recognised this immediately and fear was radiating throughout her body. She knew at that moment that the three of them would be gone and she'd be alone.

"Sorry Harry, but I can't go back to that place" Dean said as they all disappeared.

Hermione's breath had stopped, her eyes wide as she looked from the spot where the boys had disappeared from, to the snatchers and back. It had all happened so quick that she wasn't completely sure they all noticed.

"Did that one say Harry?" the head snatcher asked.

"I'm sure he did" another said.

"Ask her" said the first one.

"Girly, who was that?" he asked.

"It was like he said, Dudley and Weasley" she said, her voice catching in her throat.

"And you…?"

"Penelope… Penelope Clearwater" she said timidly.

"I don't know Scaboir, I think we ought to take this one straight to the people who'll know for sure who she is" said the snatcher who had been tying up the boys.

"The boy will know. He's about the same age" said the one Hermione now knew was Scaboir. "Go through that tent, quick, before they come back" he said.

Hermione had hoped that the important things were hidden well enough so that if Harry and Ron came back, they'd have the basics. Luckily enough, the snatcher came back only with a few bits and pieces of food.

"Not carrying much we ya's girly?" he said.

"No, we uh, lost all of our things recently" she said, making up an excuse on the spot.

"Right… Well, I'll take ya to where we going and you guys meet us there" said Scaboir.

Hermione knew where she was, as soon as she saw the woman walking towards her. The woman, with heavily lidded eyes and untamed dark hair drifted towards her, looking her up and down as though she were something she was trying to figure out. She may have once been beautiful, but was now quite obviously impacted by her years in Azkaban. This woman was Bellatrix Lestrange and Hermione had been brought to Malfoy Manor. She had heard Malfoy boast about his home many times, but honestly thought it might have been a pleasant place to be. The icy chill seemed not to effect Bellatrix or the snatchers that were holding her captive.

"Who is this? Why am I bothered by such a pathetic looking nobody?" she demanded.

"This one was travelling with two boys. One was a Weasley, one said he was a Dudley. But his friend called him Harry" Scaboir said.

"Harry?" asked Bellatrix, suddenly interested and glaring at Hermione.

"I don't know, he said his name was Vernin. I don't know him" she said desperately trying to make her voice sound believable.

Bellatrix walked around her, sniffing and tapping her wand against the side of her head.

"DRACO!" she shrieked suddenly, making Hermione jump. "Draco will know" she whispered in her strange voice.

Hermione looked around the room, glancing towards the door where Bellatrix had just come from. She heard his footsteps nearing the room before she saw him. His hair was platinum blonde and his face pointed. He had grown since she saw him last, but was still quite slender. He wore the same black suit she had seen him wear last year at Hogwarts. He had the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes and the arrogance with which he used to carry himself, was not as prominent. If Hermione was correct, Draco Malfoy looked… afraid.

As he approached, Bellatrix put her arm around her nephew and guided him towards where Herimone stood.

"Draco, tell me… do you recognise this girl?" she asked.

He looked Hermione up and down before nodding.

"Granger…." He said quietly.

"Granger? The mudblood?" Bellatrix asked.

Malfoy simply nodded.

"Where is Harry Potter?" Bellatrix asked.

"If it was 'im, that other kid we picked up disapparated 'em away. Potter and that Weasley kid" the second snatcher said.

"You let them get away? … Where did they go" she asked, rounding on Hermione.

"I don't know, we never stayed in the same place" Hermione said, thinking that honesty was now the best way to go.

"You lied to us?" roared Scaboir, realising that he had allowed _the_ Harry Potter to escape.

Hermione just stared at the wall at the other end of the room, trying not to allow her fear to show through.

Scaboir rounded on Hermione, playing with a lock of her hair.

"I know just what to do with you girly" he said. The way he breathed against her as he spoke and the way he looked her up and down left Hermione with no question as to what his motives were. She thought about how she might try and fight back, how she may run away, wandless and helpless in a house where she was certain to face some kind of enemy. She glanced towards Malfoy who was looking down at the floor.

 _'He would love nothing more than to see me completely destroyed',_ thought Hermione.

"NO!" shrieked Bellatrix. "I want to question her myself!" she said authority radiating from her. "You can leave" she said with finality.

The snatchers had no choice but to leave, empty handed. They made their thoughts well known as they exited through the grand double doors and out into the night.

There was silence for the briefest moment when Hermione could hear nothing but her own heartbeat, thudding in her ears. She wondered what was going to happen to her now that she was alone in Malfoy Manor and at the mercy of one of the maddest witches of all time.

"So, deary, tell me, where is Potter?" Bellatrix asked her, feigning friendliness.

"I don't know" Hermoine said, truthfully.

"Of course you know, you must know" Bellatrix said.

"We never went back to the same place and every place we went to was only known by one of us" she said. "I have no way of knowing, I swear" she said, desperately.

Before Hermione could blink, she was bound in ropes and thrown to the floor. As she landed, she hit her head, hard on the stone floor and the room started to go fuzzy.

"Maybe some time alone will help jog your memory" Bellatrix said, as Hermoine felt blackness cloud her vision.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione woke to hear voices yelling around her. She was pretending to be unconscious still, so she didn't have to face the room that sounded like it was building with people. She could hear footsteps of numerous people gathering and the sound of chairs sliding on a wooden floor. She must have been moved, she thought.

"I just think, that we should keep her alive. She will be full of valuable information" came Draco's voice.

"I agree, we keep the girl alive and use her to our advantage" came the unmistakable sound of Professor Snape.

"That's right, Bella" came another voice, "This girl could be useful to us" the soft voice continued.

"Alright Cissy, if you insist. I did want to hurt her, torture her for information, but if you think you can keep her as your pet, then Draco, you can take care of the mudblood" Bellatrix said.

Hermione heard Draco's intake of breath at this and she cringed as she was suddenly aware that she was now at the mercy of Draco Malfoy. She chanced a brief look around the room and noticed that several high ranking death eaters had gathered around a long table for some kind of meeting. She didn't know their names but she made certain to log their faces into her memory.

"Now that that has been dealt with, we have other business to attend to" came Snape's voice. "The cup that the dark lord wanted us to protect has been moved to the Lestrange vault in Gringotts. No one has access to it but direct family members, so it is well and truly safe" he said. Hermione looked to where he sat and saw that he glanced her way, ever so briefly. She thought for the a second that she saw, in her mind, the distinct shape of an ornate cup, emblazoned with the Hufflepuff symbol, but she thought she might just be suffering from a concussion.

"Draco, darling, will you take our guest to the cellar?" came the soft voice that Hermione now assumed was Narcissa Malfoy.

Hermione heard the scraping of a chair and felt herself lift off the floor. She hadn't expected to be carried, but to be levitated through the corridors of Malfoy Manor just felt degrading. As Malfoy levitated her towards the cellar stairs, Hermione felt blood dripping from her hair. Instinctively, she reached up and placed her hand in her hair, feeling the warmth of blood that was oozing out of an apparent wound from where she hit the floor earlier.

The metal bars that made a door sprung open and Malfoy eased her through the gap before locking the bars behind them. Hermione looked around the room as Malfoy eased her down onto her feet. She was quite unsteady as she took in her surroundings.

"This is my prison, is it?" she asked, sitting herself down on the old springy bed that sat in a corner.

"Think yourself lucky" he said. "At least she didn't kill you on the spot" he said.

"Well, I think I'd rather be dead than at the mercy of a bunch of death eaters like you!" she spat, patting the back of her head then checking her hand to see the blood.

Malfoy just looked at her, puzzled.

"What?" she asked.

"You're bleeding pretty badly" he said.

"Yeah, and you care?" she asked.

"No, not at all. But Snape and my mother want you alive, so you better take care of that" he said.

Hermione looked around the dank little room.

"What do you suggest I use to stop the bleeding, genius?" she asked.

Malfoy seemed to ponder this question for a moment before pointing his wand at her.

"What are you doing?" she asked, backing away along the bed.

"Fixing that cut on your head. I'll be in trouble if you die down here" he said, as he waved his wand over her head. She didn't want to admit that she felt instant relief at this.

"Now go, run and tell mummy that you fixed my bleeding head. And be sure to clean my muddy blood off the floor on your way back" Hermione spat as Malfoy turned to leave.

With a wave of his wand, Malfoy exited through the metal bars that were Hermione's prison. She sat there, alone in the dark wondering what she might do next. She had no way of contacting Harry and Ron and no way of knowing what was going to happen to her. There were no windows or lights so she had no way of knowing what time it was. She was certain that it was early in the night when the snatchers came, however, she didn't know how long she had been unconscious.

As the night wore on, Hermione refused to allow herself to sleep, tying hard to listen for any sounds that she might hear. She could faintly hear the sounds of other people moving about in the adjoining cellar but didn't dare call out to them. She wondered briefly who they might be. Other blood traitors? Could it be Harry and Ron? Or were they death eaters, pretending to be prisoners, determined to get her to say something? She had no way of knowing.

Hermione wasn't sure how many days or nights had passed before she saw another person again. She sat up, scared and excited when she heard footsteps coming towards her cell. She hadn't ever spent so much time alone before and was desperate for some kind of stimulation.

The bars on the door swung open and Hermione squinted as the lamp on the wall lit up. At first she thought it was Ron with his deluminator, but as her eyes adjusted to the light, she realised it was Malfoy, carrying a plate of food.

"How long have I been here?" she asked.

"Couple of days" he said. "I've brought you some food and some blankets" he said.

"Why bother?" she asked.

"Because they want you alive. You'll need your strength for when they question you, so just eat" Malfoy said, an air of fear in his trembling voice.

"If I just refuse to eat, I'll die down here and there will be no need for me to be questioned, will there?" she snapped back.

The smell of the food was incredibly overwhelming and before Malfoy could respond, she had unconsciously taken the tray of food from his hands and begun eating.

Malfoy seemed to hover nearby, as though waiting for something and Hermione paused, mid bite to ponder this.

"If you're waiting for a thank you, forget it" she said.

"I'm not" he said.

"Well, what then?" she asked.

As Malfoy was about to answer, they both heard heavy footsteps coming towards the stairs.

"Just eat your scraps you filthy little mudblood and don't speak out of turn! You should feel lucky that you're getting fed at all" he shouted. This caught Hermione off guard, as just a second ago, he seemed to be a timid, scared boy and now he had pulled himself up to his full death eater height and was oozing authority.

"Draco?" called a male voice.

"No need to check on me" he said, as he turned and left the cell. "I'm quite capable of tending to the mudblood" he said as he took one last glance back into the cell. With a wave of his wand, some blankets and a pillow appeared on the bed and Hermione was left feeling confused about what had just happened.

As the days rolled by agonisingly slowly, Hermione was subjected to experiences similar to the one in her first few days. Malfoy was always so scared looking, always seemed like he had something he wanted to say or do, but never could. She was yet to be questioned but she knew it was only a matter of days. She spent her time counting seconds, trying to find some way of identifying whether it was day or night and how long she had been there. She had grown to hate Malfoy even more than ever before, if that was even possible. He was so unpredictable, his attitude and behaviour was never consistent and when he did talk to her, it was never to illicit an answer, but to relay instructions. ' _Eat, drink, don't starve yourself'_.

As much as she hated Malfoy, and always would, he was the only contact she had had with another human being in over a week. She was just guessing at this point that she had been there for over a week. Malfoy had been to deliver food four times in total but Hermione guessed that he wasn't coming daily.

Hermione had a lot of time to think about her life and about all the things that had happened over the years. She thought about Harry and Ron and about the many long nights she had spent listening to the boys breathing slow as they fell asleep. She thought about the nights when Harry was asleep and she and Ron had stayed up talking though the night. That was perhaps one thing that was keeping Hermione going. The idea that Ron had promised her a normal life together after all of this was over. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to be taken back to that night.

"I don't see how this can end in any positive way Ron" she said.

"I know it feels hopeless now, but it will end. I'm certain of it" Ron said, taking the locket from around her neck and placing it on the table in front of the lounge chairs where they sat.

"It shouldn't be left lying around" Hermione said.

"Can't we just have a break? Allow ourselves to be ourselves for a few minutes?" he said.

"I suppose that would be ok. Just for a few minutes" she said, sipping her mint leaf tea.

"That stuff is seriously gross" Ron said, gesturing towards her tea.

"Yeah, I know but it's the only thing keeping me going right now" she said. "A bit of normality"

"Well, when this is all over, I'll take you to a real coffee shop and you can have all the tea you want" Ron said.

"I'll hold you to that, Ron Weasley" Hermione said with a smile.

The two looked at each other for a few moments before either of them spoke. It was Ron who broke the silence.

"I will give you a good life Hermione" he said, reaching out and holding onto her hand. "I know it's complicated right now, but when all of this is over, I want us to be together" he said.

Hermione knew how she felt about Ron. Her feelings for him had grown throughout the years and her jealousy over his relationship with Lavender had proven to her that she wanted to be with him. But just like Harry and Ginny, she and Ron couldn't be in a relationship while the wizarding world was in so much of a shambles.

"I want that too, more than anything" she whispered, more so into the night than to him.

Hermione was pulled back to the present when she heard the clicking of heels on marble floor. Someone was coming for her and it wasn't the same sounding footsteps as usual.

"Get up girly, we need to have a little talk" called the unmistakable voice of Bellatrix.

Hermione did as she was told, knowing too well not to disobey the insane woman who was her captor.

Bellatrix led Hermione out into a vast hall that was different to the one she had been in the night she arrived. A chair sat in the middle of the room and when instructed, Hermione approached the chair and sat down. Ropes immediately restrained her but she didn't dare move. She watched as the three Malfoys and Snape entered the room and winced at the shrill sound of Bellatrix's voice.

"Time for a little Q and A" she said.

Hermione looked at her old potions master whose face was unreadable. She wanted nothing more than to spit insults at him for what he did to Dumbledore but she knew it would result in punishment. Snape's eyes narrowed on her as she thought about all the things she would like to say to him and she suddenly remembered he was a skilled legilimens. He could tell exactly what she was thinking. His mouth betrayed the smallest of smirks and he ever so subtly shook his head. Images of the strange cup emblazoned with the Hufflepuff crest appeared in her mind ever so briefly before leaving again. Confused, she looked away and stared at her audience, one by one. Lucius Malfoy appeared eager to get the questioning started whereas Draco stood back, appearing more concerned than eager. Bellatrix circled the chair, wand in hand curling her hair around the tip.

"Let's get this over with, shall we?" said Snape. "I have things to do"

"You are Hermione Granger, are you not?" asked Narcissa suddenly, appearing from behind the chair. Hermione was relieved to hear that she would be the one doing the questioning.

"I think it's safe to say you already know that I am" Hermione said.

"ENOUGH of that, just answer the questions MUDBLOOD" shouted Bellatrix.

"You have been travelling with Harry Potter?"

"Yes – and Ron Weasley's cousin, Barney" she said, keeping up the pretence of Ron's splattergroit illness. At this, Draco scoffed, but Hermione pretended not to notice.

"What were your motives for travelling?"

"We were trying to avoid being captured" she said.

"You mean to say, that you had not received any instructions from anybody, you were not up to anything in particular?" Snape asked.

"No, we were just trying to stay alive. We had planned to stay close for the first year then had planned to go abroad" she said, hoping this would lead them on a false trail.

"Abroad where?" Narcissa asked.

"Europe, mostly. Italy, France, Germany. We spoke about going to the US for a bit. Harry is very recognisable so we agreed to wait a while, hide out in different locations around Great Britain" she said.

"Where were you going to go to next?" Narcissa asked.

"I don't know, it was Ron's turn to choose and we never discussed it beforehand" she said.

"LIES!" screeched Bellatrix.

"I'm telling the truth!" Hermione yelled as Bellatrix approached her.

"No, girl, you're not. But you will!" Bellatrix said, pulling a silver dagger out from inside her robes.

Hermione panicked at the sight of the dagger and as Bellatrix brought it close to her, she held her breath.

"I'm telling the truth" she said again as Bellatrix tore open the sleeve of her jumper in one swift slice.

Hermione let out a scream, as she felt the knife dig into the flesh on her now exposed arm. She felt the warm blood run down and onto the floor beneath her. Her skin was being cut open time and time again and she screamed till her lungs felt as though they were on fire.

"Tell the truth and this will all go away" soothed Narcissa.

Bellatrix continued to carve into Hermione's forearm like she was carving a dirty word into a wooden picnic table, like Hermione had seen children do at the playground.

"OK! OK! I will tell you!" Hermione finally screamed out.

"Good, good girl" said Narcissa.

"They said they were going to the forest of Dean next. That's all I know, I swear. We were there before and it was one of Ron's favourites. He said he was going to go back to it when it was his turn next. That's all I know. I swear. I swear….." she sobbed hard as her forearm felt like it was on fire.

Bellatrix leant over her arm once more, eliciting a scream from Hermione once again, that reverberated off the walls.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" yelled Snape. "We need her alive!" he said.

"She is very much alive, I just had to finish my handiwork, Severus!" Bellatrix answered. "There, see?"

As she stepped back, Hermione glanced down at her arm and through tears, saw the word ' _mudblood'_ carved roughly into the flesh of her arm.

Hermione was left to continue her sobbing, while the blood from her wound dripped onto the floor.

"Draco, take care of that, will you?" called Bellatrix over her shoulder as she exited the room. Narcissa and her husband left, as well as Snape, leaving Hermione alone with Draco.

Draco carefully untied the rope by hand, making sure not to look at Hermione's face. She wasn't sure why, but he never could look her in the face.

"Your family is pathetic" spat Hermione as he had finished untying her.

"Can you walk?" he asked.

"What's it to you?" she asked, trying to make herself sound stronger than she felt.

"Because I'm not going to deal with another one of your head injuries" he said.

"I'm fine" she said, getting to her feet. She straightened her back and lifted her chin, desperate not to let slip how she was feeling inside, desperately lonely, in pain and fearing that she was going to trapped here forever.

She walked back through the corridor to the stairs that led down to the cellar. She desperately didn't want to go back down there, but it was her only chance to allow herself to express her emotions, emotions that were threatening to burst.

Draco opened the bars to the cell and ushered her through, into her little dark room.

He looked around and his face contorted into a look of disgust.

"This place is disgusting Granger" he said.

"Well, it's in _your_ house, _Malfoy_!" she answered.

Draco waved his wand once and the room, as well as the small adjoining room that contained a toilet and a basin, seemed to rid themselves of the damp musty smell at once. Hermione didn't thank him as she was certain it was only for his benefit.

"What do you do in here all day, anyway?" he asked.

"I plot your murder" she answered, sarcastically, although, plotting the murder of Draco Malfoy _was_ something she had thought about during her time here.

"Funny… Considering I'm the only one helping you here" he said.

"Helping me? You've done nothing but keep me locked up in here as your family's prisoner! I know your crazy family is going to kill me, after all, I've told you everything I know, if you're keeping me here still it means that you don't intend on letting me go!" she said, now realising that fact for herself.

"I… That's not… I don't know what they want to do with you" he said.

"Hmm, not high enough in the ranks of the death eaters to be given that information, hey Malfoy?" she taunted.

"I don't care enough to find out" he said, trying to cover up her truth with his lie.

The two of them stood there for a moment, each trying to think of what to say next. Draco looked down at the blood that was still dripping down Hermione's arm, down her fingers and onto the floor. She caught his stare and held her arm up.

"What? Does my dirty blood bother you?" she asked.

He looked questioningly at her red blood and for a moment, looked puzzled.

"It's just the same as anybody else's, really" he said, almost to himself.

"Of course it is you dimwit, you really think that _my_ blood would look any different to _yours?_ " she asked.

"Well, I was always told…" he started.

"Of course you were, you ignorant twit! You have always believed exactly what you've been told. How about thinking for yourself for once? How about realising that my blood, _this_ blood…" she held her arm up to his face so he could clearly see the words carved into her skin. "…is no different to yours, no different to a muggles, no different to Godric himself!" She said angrily.

Draco stood silent for a moment before summoning a bandage, handing it to her and walking out the door.

 **AN: I have a child off school sick so have spent the entire day doing nothing but writing. Here you go! Back to the real world, aka work/uni, tomorrow so please don't have an expectation that i will get chapters out as quick.**


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione had bandaged her arm up and so far, had managed to stop the bleeding and keep it clean. This was only made somewhat easier by the fact that Malfoy had done a quick clean in her cell with his wand so there was less chance she might die from an infection.

Every so often, she would remove the bandages from her arm and check to see if the letters on her arm were healing. They weren't. She assumed that the blade used to create the cuts was embed with some kind of dark magic.

Malfoy was still bringing her meals, only now, it was daily. She thought, at first that it was kind of him, that maybe he was trying to make her time here easier to bear. But as the time wore on more and more, she thought that perhaps he was trying to get her to talk.

She only spoke enough to ask what day it was and how long she had been there for. He always answered and lingered, but she never wanted to talk further. After all, he was Draco Malfoy! She knew that she had now been there for three weeks and spent most of her time wondering about Harry and Ron.

She thought about the slim chance of her leaving this place in one piece, physically and mentally and thought that once this whole thing was over, she may go on to lead a normal life with Ron. That idea seemed so far away, so implausible, so unrealistic that she soon stopped thinking about any kind of future altogether. She could only think of the present. She wondered if Harry had been able to find another Horcrux yet or if he had been captured. She was certain that if he had been, she would know. There would be celebrations all throughout the Manor if the Harry Potter was captured.

Every now and then, she would hear voices from the other cellar and although she was desperate for another person besides Malfoy to talk to, she didn't dare call out. She didn't know why, because she no longer believed that it was death eaters. She was certain that the Malfoys had other prisoners.

As she thought about possible locations for the rest of the Horcruxes, she failed to hear the approaching footsteps on this particular day. She quickly sat upright when the door opened and she banged her arm on the side of the bed frame, making it bleed.

When Malfoy stepped into the dark room and lit the lamp, Hermione was tending to her bandages. He stood still for a moment, taking in the sight.

"Let me help" he said, setting down the tray on the bed.

"No way" she answered. "I've been doing this myself all this time and I will continue to do it myself" she said.

"You're making a mess of it, let me use magic" he said.

Again, Hermione refused, almost out of spite. No way would she allow Malfoy to get anywhere near her.

"Just leave me alone" she said.

At this, Malfoy turned and left, leaving the tray of food behind.

The next time she saw anyone, it was three days later. She had begun to wonder if she would die down there alone and was even beginning to think that she _wanted_ to see Malfoy again. She was picking at the thread hanging off her bandages when Malfoy entered her cell.

"How's the arm?" he asked as he set the tray down on the bed.

"Fine" she answered. She hated him more than anything, but he was the only person she had seen in weeks and the only person she _would_ see, so she sucked up her pride and allowed herself to communicate with this creep. "Actually, the bandages are a bit tattered" she said.

"Let me help you" he said, looking into her face for the first time. His eyes had dark circles underneath them and he looked as though he hadn't been sleeping well. Hermione thought that he actually looked much the same as she felt.

"What are you even doing here? Why aren't you at school?" she asked, removing her bandages slowly.

"Duty calls" he answered, indicating towards his left arm where Hermione knew he carried the dark mark.

"I guess you're happy. After all, it's what you've always wanted, isn't it?" she said, attempting some kind of communication with her captor.

"You would think so" he answered, taking the tattered bandages from her and mending them with his wand.

"What do you mean by that? I would have thought this is your idea of heaven? Having me trapped down here, running around after You-Know-Who, part of his inner circle of goons. Your life's aspiration, I thought" she said.

"You think too much" he said.

"Well…" she began, looking around the empty room, "…I don't have much else to do down here" she said.

Draco looked around the room and nodded in agreement, handing the mended bandages back to her.

"You're right. Well, if it's any consolation, I don't have much to do either" he said.

"You have your freedom at least" she said attempting to bandage her arm.

"Not really" he answered. "I'm trapped in this place just as much as you are" he said.

He stood watching her attempt to re-bandage her arm, before stopping her.

"Here, let me do it" he said. She reluctantly allowed him to bandage her arm and was surprised with the skill in which he did so. She found herself relaxing somewhat and suddenly stiffened.

"That's fine, I can do it myself now" she said. "You can go now" she continued. There was no way she was going to let her guard down around him.

Malfoy shot her a strange look before turning and leaving. The exchange between them was the strangest thing Hermione had experienced in weeks. She hated him and he hated her, but this was almost as if they weren't themselves. As if this experience had made everything that had happened between them in the past non-existent. He was almost… kind… to her. Something she had never thought he was capable of. It didn't make up for the years of torment, torture and name calling, but he was the only other person she had contact with, so she thought it was time to see if she could communicate with him in any kind of way.

When she saw Malfoy again the following day, he brought her some books.

"Here, this will stop you thinking so much" he said, as he set the tray down on the bed and put the bag of books on the floor. When Hermione didn't thank him, he spoke again "You're welcome" he said.

"I'll thank you when I've got light to read by" she said.

"I suppose that's a bit of an issue" he said. "How about I leave the lamp lit when I go?" he asked.

"Well, in that case, I would thank you" she said.

"Fair enough" he said.

"What did you mean when you said you're trapped here like me?" she asked, taking a bite of a sandwich.

"I'm not allowed to leave the Manor" he said, sadly.

"Not even to go back to school?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"Why?" she asked, sipping a cup of water.

"They need me here" he said vaguely.

"And you don't want to be here, you said?" she asked.

"No, I don't" he said, looking to her.

"Why?"

"It's not exactly pleasant" he said.

"Look around Malfoy, the whole world is unpleasant" she said.

"Well, at least you were able to be out on your own for a while, not having to worry about all of this" he indicated to the ceiling above him.

"That's what I told you" she said.

"So there is more to the story?" he asked.

"Is that what you're doing down here? Trying to get information out of me?" she demanded, suddenly realising that she was giving away too much information with barely any prompting.

"No, no I'm not. I just… I'm curious" he said.

"Curious, yeah right. Whatever I tell you, you'll run off and tell dear aunty Bellatrix and she'll probably take to my other arm" Hermione snapped.

"I never wanted any of this" he said, a little too loudly.

"Any of what?" she asked, just as brashly.

"I didn't want to be part of this, to be torturing people, to be holding people captive. This isn't what I thought He wanted… At first" he said, sadly.

"What was it that you thought, Malfoy? This is what His aim has been all along. Torture, pain, control, elimination of muggles. How could you see that it was any different?" she asked.

"Because I was brought up to believe different, that's why!" he said. "When you grow up being told about how muggles are all dirty and they infect your blood if you get close and how they're dangerous, what else are you supposed to believe?" he asked.

"You're supposed to think for yourself!" Hermione said calmly.

"Your blood is the same as mine" he said quietly after a few moments silence.

"Yes" she said.

"I feel so stupid" he said.

"You are" she answered.

"Top in all my classes after you left, thank you very much" he said with a smirk.

"I bet you love that" she said.

"It's not so bad actually" he said.

"I do miss the competition though" he said.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, I am currently preoccupied. Otherwise id consider returning to beat you in exams" she said.

Just as Draco went to speak, a shrill voice sounded from above.

"DRACO!"

"Bellatrix… What fun it is to serve her" he said as he rolled his eyes.

"You can leave you know. If this isn't what you want. Just go" Hermione said.

Draco just looked at her and exited the cell, leaving Hermione to think about this sudden news.

Was Malfoy changing? Had he just been sucked into a life that his parents wanted for him because he didn't know any other way? Why was he being so forthcoming with her? These were all questions she didn't think she would ever get answers to.

She browsed through the bag of books and was surprised when she found that she hadn't read most of them. She picked one at random and started to read.

After a few hours, the lamp on the wall burnt out and Hermione took that as a sign to go to sleep. The book had been quite enjoyable and she was almost ¾ through. That night, she slept well for the first time since she arrived. She had finally had some kind of conversation that didn't involve silver daggers being dragged through her skin, and somehow, she was finding herself craving more.

The next day, or whenever it was when she woke, she found herself waiting for Malfoy to arrive. Not that she was eager to see _him_ exactly, but she wanted to find out more, to have a conversation with _someone._ Sure enough, Malfoy arrived soon with another tray of food. This time, the tray consisted of meat and vegetables with some sweets. Hermione hadn't seen such food since leaving Grimmauld Place.

Draco sat the tray down on the bed as usual and stood to one side.

"You can sit if you like" she said as she pulled the tray towards herself. "Where did you get this from?" she asked.

"My mother makes amazing food" he said. "I told her that you're ill and need something more than left overs.

"Oh, how kind" she said, sarcastically.

"Hey, I put my neck out for you to get this, be thankful" he said.

"I am, thank you" she said, trying to put some sincerity into her words.

Malfoy sat for over an hour, holding the awkward conversation with Hermione. She wasn't pleased that he was her only contact, but he did the job, nonetheless. When he left, he left the lamp lit again and Hermione spent her time reading.

The following days travelled by in much the same way. Malfoy would bring decent food and they would have some awkward conversation, sometimes they asked genuine questions of each other and occasionally they each let slip something personal about themselves.

After a week, Hermione found herself eagerly waiting for Malfoy to arrive and had even attempted to wash more thoroughly in the basin and somewhat tame her hair. She knew she must have looked terrible as it had been more than a month since she had seen anything beyond the cell she now called her home.

Malfoy arrived with the usual tray of food and Hermione sat and ate while he told her about what was happening in the outside world.

"There has been no word of Potter and Weasley at all" he said when Hermione chanced asking.

"That's a good thing, I suppose" she said.

"We just released the other people we had in the cellar next to yours. You might know the girl, Lovegood?" he said.

"Luna was here?" Hermione asked.

"Her father was printing things about Potter in his magazine that You-Know-Who didn't approve of" he said in an offhand kind of way.

"Well, thank Merlin she's alive" Hermione said.

"She was nicer than you were, in the beginning. She just kind of went into this strange fantasy place in her head and stayed there" Malfoy said.

"That where she lives, permanently. She's a good friend" Hermione said. "Who else was there?" she asked.

"Olivander" Malfoy said.

"Olivander? The wand" whispered Hermione.

"What wand?" Malfoy asked.

"You-Know-Who is after a particular wand. He obviously thinks Olivander knows where it is" she said.

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"Don't ask questions you don't really want the answers to" she said before changing the subject.

The two sat talking for a while longer before Malfoy had to leave for his secret duties. Hermione didn't ask him about what his role was as a death eater, apart from tending to her. If she thought too much about it, she actually didn't want to spoil the pretence that they were both captive here.

Day after day the two spent their time talking. Hermione lived for those brief moments where she had someone to talk to. They had begun to talk more and more about their own lives, about their childhoods and about their thoughts, desires and passions. Malfoy stayed for longer and longer each day until he had spent almost the whole day in the cellar at the end of the week.

Hermione hadn't ever thought it would be possible that she would ever hold down a civil conversation with Malfoy let alone be spilling her deepest secrets to him. The times she spoke to him though, it was almost as if he was someone completely different. He was no longer the arrogant twit she had known him as for 7 years. He was just as lonely, just as afraid and just as desperate as she was.

During the times when she slept, Hermione would dream about her life before the war, before going on the run, before she had erased her parents' memories and sent them away. She dreamt about the boys and wondered what they were up to. She dreamt about what the trio may have been doing if she weren't being held captive. She also dreamt of an ornate cup that had the Hufflepuff crest on it. She knew she had never seen it before, but for some reason, it was important to her that she obtain the cup. When she saw the cup, she also saw Snape.

It happened so suddenly, that one day she woke up with a start and strongly believed that the cup was a Horcrux. She had no idea how the idea was planted in her head, but she recalled her first night at Malfoy Manor and remembered Snape telling the death eaters that the cup had been in the Lestrange's vault. This gave Hermione a new sense of determination. No longer was she going to accept her fate as a prisoner in the dungeon of Malfoy Manor. She had to come up with a way out.

That day, when Malfoy arrived, she had come to the conclusion that she had to recruit him to help her.

"I need to get out of here" she said.

"You and me both" he said.

"No, I mean it Malfoy, we need to get out of here, both of us. Help me escape and you come with me!" Hermione begged.

"Granger, you're crazy" he said.

"No I'm not, I'm saner now than ever before. I know what I need to do and you're the person who can help me do it!" she said.

"What exactly is it that you're suddenly so desperate to do?" he asked.

"I need to get into the Lestrange's vault" Hermione whispered.

"You are definitely insane Granger" he said.

"Can you get us out of here or not?" she asked.

"Well, I don't know, maybe, I'm not certain. But if I leave, I know he'll kill my family" he said, reminding her of the conversation they had about why he joined the death eaters in the first place.

"Why did you do it?" she asked.

"Do what?"

"Take the dark mark"

"Well, father was in prison and my family had disgraced the Malfoy name. It was up to me to salvage whatever I could" he said.

"Couldn't you have just run away?" she asked.

"He said he was going to kill them. He was going to break my father out of Azkaban and kill my mother and me right in front of him" he said.

"Oh…"

"So I had no choice. I had to take the mark and I had to complete the task he set me" he said.

"After everything you've done, after what your family has done… He will not kill your parents. He needs them. People like You-Know-Who keep those around who are useful. Your family is incredibly useful. I'm sure that your absence won't be that big a deal" she said, trying to both comfort and convince him.

Malfoy pondered this idea for what felt like the longest time.

"Just say I can get us out of here, why do you need to get into the vault?"

"I can't tell you that" she said.

"So I'm just supposed to trust you?" he asked.

"Trust Dumbledore" she said.

"What does he have to do with this?"

"Everything! Please, just trust me" she begged.

"Alright, but we need a plan" he said, looking into her desperate eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

In the days that followed, Hermione waited eagerly for Malfoy to show up, not for the food, but for the strategic planning. He had agreed to help her escape and to help her get into the vault at Gringotts Bank and they were on their way to figuring out how.

"I have the polyjuice potion and my mother's hair so we're almost ready to do this" Malfoy said one morning.

"What about a wand?" Hermione asked.

"I have that under control" he said.

"So when do we do this then?" she asked, thinking that another week or so in this place wouldn't be so bad if she knew she was getting out.

"Well, that's the thing…" he said, "It needs to be today" he said.

At this, Hermione's mood lifted significantly. Not only would she be getting out of this prison, but by the end of the day, there would be one less piece of Voldemort's soul to find.

As she paced around her little room, she wondered idly what Harry and Ron would think of Malfoy joining them for the remainder of the war. Surely his help in obtaining the Horcrux will go down well. She knew Ron would see Malfoy's presence as a threat, but she had to rely on him. He was all she had. Finding the boys would be their next mission.

She heard more and more footsteps above, which signalled to her that the death eater meeting was about to commence. If everything went according to plan, Malfoy would excuse himself just after it begins and come for her. She counted the seconds and ticked off the minutes while she waited. The commotion seemed to settle down and there was silence for what she calculated was 5 minutes before she heard him on the stairs.

"Hurry, we don't have much time" he said as he unlocked the door. "Can I trust you?" he asked her as he held up a wand.

"Of course you can" she answered without hesitation.

"Alright then, stay close" he said, handing her her wand and leading the way. She wanted to ask where he got it from, but kept her mouth shut. She was just glad to have it, feel it in her hands, grateful to feel magic again.

Hermione followed Malfoy through the entrance hall where she had first entered and as the afternoon sun hit her face she paused for a moment to relish it.

Bringing her out of her moment, Malfoy took Hermione by the arm and led her towards the gate that would lead them beyond the apparition boundary.

"Not far to go" he said, "we need to hurry".

Hermione did her best to keep up, but given the very little exercise she had had in the past 2 months, her body felt weak. Nevertheless, her legs carried her to the gate and she stood beside Malfoy, his grip still firm on her arm as they both turned on the spot and disapparated away.

When they arrived at their destination, they were standing in front of a row of medium sized cottages, all with immaculately manicured gardens.

"Listen carefully, this is seventy five rose garden way" Malfoy said quickly. Hermione thought it was odd that he was telling her the address, but very quickly realised that he was in revealing the location to a secret house.

The house appeared as though out of nowhere. Where 73 met 77 just seconds ago, number 75 now stood in all its Malfoy glory.

 _'Even their secret hide away is elaborate'_ she thought as she took in the exterior. It was quite grand, with an ostentatious M decorating the gate.

"Come on, we don't have much time. I swear I caught sight of Snape as we ran through the gate" Malfoy said as they walked up the short path to the front door.

"You sure we won't be seen here?" Hermione asked, as she took in the seemingly normal looking neighbourhood.

"I'm certain of it. I'm the secret keeper and the only one who knows of this place. My mother and I decided it was for the best, in case something happened to her and my father" he said.

Hermione walked in through the front door and entered what appeared to be an ordinary little house. It was obviously quite fancy but overall, it was far more ordinary than Malfoy Manor.

"You can shower upstairs to the right. I got some clothes of my mothers, once you drink the polyjuice potion we can leave.

"A shower. How I long for a shower!" Hermione beamed as she headed for the bathroom. She undressed quicker than ever before and rushed into the shower. As the water flowed over her body, she relished the brief moment of normality, even though normal was quite far from what she was experiencing at this very moment. As she washed her hair with expensive products, she thought about what she was doing. She was in Draco Malfoy's secret house that no one knew about, getting ready to break into Gringotts Bank to steal part of Voldemort's soul. It truly was the most bizarre set of circumstances she had yet to encounter.

She dressed in the clothes that Malfoy had given her and tied her hair in a neat bun. She wondered idly about the things that Malfoy was giving up to help her, without any true idea of what he was getting himself into. She made a point of thanking him later.

For now, she headed downstairs to get on with the day.

Malfoy supressed a smirk when he saw Hermione enter the living room where he was waiting.

"What?" she asked, noticing his strange look.

"Well, for one, you look… interesting… in my mother's clothes, and secondly, I've never seen your hair less wild, Granger. Not sure how I feel about that" he said.

"Right…" she said, unsure about how to move forward with that conversation. "Well, I'm about to look just like your mother. Are you ready? Are you sure you want to do this? You can back out now if you want?" she babbled.

"Granger, I'm here, I gave you the location of my secret house, I am about to turn you into my mother and break into her sisters Gringotts vault. I'm sure. I'm here. I'm doing this!" He said with conviction as he handed her the potion.

A little less than 5 minutes later, Hermione found herself walking alongside Malfoy into the doors of Gringotts bank. Her heart raced, but she was well aware of what she had to do. She approached the head goblin and cleared her throat. As he looked up, she spoke.

"I've been sent to access my sister's vault – The Lestrange vault" said Hermione with confidence she didn't know she had.

"Do you have a key?" he asked. Hermione looked to Draco who retrieved a brass key from his vast pocket.

"Don't dawdle goblin, we're in a hurry. The Dark Lord has sent us" Draco said, oozing arrogance, prestige and authority.

"Right Madam, sir, well, this way if you please" the goblin said as he led the way through the doors leading to the lower vaults.

The ride to the vault was uneventful. Hermione had expected some kind of charm to unveil imposters, however, nothing out of the ordinary happened. It was almost too easy. Briefly, she wondered if Malfoy was playing her, but her intuition told her that he was genuine.

The two seemingly ordinary people entered the vault and Hermione looked around for the cup that she had seen in her mind. Spotting it on a high shelf at the back of the densely packed vault, she headed towards it and knocked over a pile of cauldrons. That's when things suddenly got very bad, very fast.

The cauldrons that Hermione had knocked, began to multiply and when she touched them with her skin, they burnt like fire. Every time she tried to get them to stop, they would multiply with her touch and burn more and more.

Suppressing her shock and pain, she continued to make her way to the cup which was now letting off an awful screeching sound that Hermione knew was part of Voldemort's soul protesting against its capture. She vaguely heard Malfoy talking with the goblin outside the door of the vault and hoped beyond hope that he was making some kind of excuse for her clumsiness.

She waded through the growing pool of random items, gritting her teeth against the searing, scorching pain that was biting at her legs as more and more things began to multiply and fall over each other. She finally reached the cup, grasped it with her hands that burnt like acid, shoved it into a pouch that Malfoy had given her, then headed for the exit.

"I must say, Mrs Malfoy, that was quite unorthodox" he said.

Hermione looked to Malfoy who had his wand pointed at the back of the goblin's head and realised at once that he must have confounded him. Ordinarily she would have been against such actions, but this was necessary.

The duo and the goblin made their way to the surface and out into the main foyer. Hermione almost thought they had had it too easy. The whole event went off mostly without a hitch. They bid the goblin a hasty farewell before heading for the exit, where they came face to face with another death eater, who Hermione recognised as Travers.

"Narcissa…" he said.

Malfoy nudged Hermione gently with his elbow.

"That is Mrs Malfoy to you, Travers" she said.

"Right. Right you are. What are you doing here? I thought the meeting was on this afternoon?" he asked.

"It is but we are on important business, now if you'll excuse us…" she said.

"You're the hostess, you're supposed to be there" he questioned.

"Are you questioning the instruction of the dark lord?" Hermione asked, threateningly as they walked down the steps and into Diagon Alley which was mostly bare.

"No, not at all" he said before making to enter the bank.

"Hold on a minute" Malfoy said, pointing his wand at Travers. "Obliviate" he whispered as he twisted his wand slightly. "Now get on with your day. You never saw us" he said as he grabbed Hermione by the arm and headed down the street.

"That was a good idea" she said.

"Hopefully it buys us some more time" Malfoy said. "He would have gone straight for the Manor, he knows we're not highly favourable with _Him_ at the moment and wouldn't be so lucky to get out of such an important meeting" he said.

"What was the meeting about anyway?" she asked, as they headed to a dark alley, ready to disapparated.

"Membership" he said vaguely, linking arms with Hermione and twisting into oblivion.

When they arrived back at Malfoy's secret cottage, Hermione continued to question him.

"What do you mean membership?" she asked.

"They're recruiting, looking for families like mine to use to their advantage, getting suggestions" he said.

"Oh…" was all she could say.

"As far as I know, they were deciding what to do with you today too" he said.

"How much did you hear?" she asked.

"Nothing of interest" he said. "I wasn't there long".

"Right, of course" she said.

Malfoy headed into the kitchen and made them both tea. The silence was overwhelming despite her months in isolation. She needed conversation, she needed noise.

"Do you have a wireless?" she asked, calling to him from the living room.

"Yeah, in here" he called.

Hermione entered the kitchen which was adorned with the latest muggle devices. There was an adjoining dining room with a table that had seating for 6 people.

"This is an incredibly ordinary kitchen, Malfoy" she said.

"Electricity and all" he said, looking around with distaste.

"I think you'll like it, once you get used to it" she said, heading to where a wireless radio sat on a shelf.

She tapped the device with her wand, muttering various words to try and identify the password, just as Ron had done months ago.

"What's that?" Malfoy asked.

"Potterwatch" she said. "A wireless station dedicated to the Order and fighting against You-Know-Who. If Harry and Ron have been sighted, they'll know.

She continued for quite some time, using every word she could think of, without luck. She sipped her tea and after an hour, she gave up.

"I suppose I'll have to try again tomorrow" she said as Malfoy sat across from her at the table.

"What now?" he asked.

"Well, I need to find the boys" she said.

"That's going to be impossible" he said. "If they're as cunning as you say they are, they've hidden their tracks and have wards up" he continued

The two sat together for most of the night trying to think of what to do next. Getting the cup had been simple, far simpler than either of them had expected. Hermione thought it was about time she explained to Draco all about the horcruxes and about how they had to be destroyed. After all, he had now proven himself to be trustworthy. He didn't seem at all surprised to hear that Voldemort had concealed his soul in a number of items to preserve his life. He spoke at length about how Voldemort had told his death eaters as much as they needed to know about his efforts towards immortality.

"But he never told anyone anything specific?" she asked.

"Never. It was always something that a death eater had to strive for, you know, to be that close, to know His deepest secrets. I don't even think Bellatrix knows about the Horcruxes" he said.

"She does seem close" Hermione said.

"More than close" he said, screwing up his face.

"Like they're together?" she asked.

"Well, we all know he lacks the ability to have _feelings_ for someone, but she's definitely helped him _relax_ at times, if you know what I mean" he said.

"Oh, gross" Hermione said, laughing.

The two sat laughing for a while before succumbing to an awkward silence. Hermione took her empty tea cup to the kitchen and looked out the window into the dark night.

"This is weird" Hermione said finally.

"Yeah, I suppose it is" he said.

"We've been enemies forever" she said, standing at the kitchen bench.

"Only because I was so bloody stupid" he said.

"That's one way to describe it" she said.

"You know that I'm not like that anymore, right? I don't think that way anymore" he said, almost pleading with her.

"I am starting to" she said, shrugging her shoulders. She may not ever fully believe that he had changed, after all, this was Draco Malfoy. But he had been so convincing so far, she had to try.

"I was so jealous, back in first year" he said.

"Jealous?" she asked, confused.

"Incredibly! When I heard that _the_ Harry Potter was coming to Hogwarts, I thought for sure I could convince him to be friends with me. I thought he would want to be friends with someone who knew so many people, had so many connections and so knew much about the wizarding world. Then he made friends with Weasley and it was like he was the first person to reject me. I was so angry so I made it my mission to make him miserable. Then when he became friends with you, I was even madder. You're the first person who terrified me" he confessed.

Hermione wanted to interject, but Draco kept talking as she made her way back to the table where he was still seated.

"When you started topping all our classes, it really confused me. I was taught to believe that muggle borns are all stupid, that they steal their magic and have no place in the wizarding world…" he said. Hermione cringed, but he went on, "but then you really proved yourself at the end of first year with the stone and then with the basilisk. You outsmarted everyone, time and time again. I just didn't understand it. And you know what people do when they don't understand something…" he said.

"People hate what they don't understand" she said quietly.

"Exactly. I never actually hated you though, I feared you. I was jealous too. Jealous of what you had, of what you could do, of everything. You had the friends, the glory, and the power. You were smart and beautiful and had guys falling for you, even Krum… Then I went and got this…" he pulled up his sleeve… "And I thought I had it all. Even though I didn't want it, I was part of something that people feared and some part of me thought I could be bigger and better than Potter" he said.

"But you were just as scared as the rest of us, really" Hermione said, choosing not to acknowledge what he said about her looks.

"Exactly" he said. "And now, sitting here, talking to you, I have so many regrets. So many things I wish I hadn't said and done. I can't even begin to explain all the ways I'm sorry" he said, tears in his eyes.

"It's ok, honestly. You saved me. You got me out of there and helped me get the cup. One of the pieces that will ensure You-Know-Who is destroyed for good. I'd say you've well and truly made up for it" Hermione said.

"You know, sometimes I would wonder about what could have happened if I hadn't been born into the family I was. Maybe I might have tried to as you out. You'd have said no, I suppose. Always hung up on Weasley" he said, hesitating.

"I wasn't really interested in dating anyone" she said.

"Not even Weasley? I thought you two were a thing?" he asked.

"Oh no, me and Ron have never been" she said.

"But you want to?" he asked.

"Well, I thought I did" she said.

"What's changed?" he asked.

"Everything. I'm different now. I don't even know if he's alive, or if he wants me back" she said.

"He'd be crazy not to" Draco said quietly, almost as though to himself.

"Right" was all Hermione could say back. Things just got very awkward very fast. "Well, I guess, it's late. We should get some rest" she said.

"You're right, it's pretty late" he said.

"Well, good night then" she said as she headed for the guest bedroom upstairs.

"Night Granger" he called after her.

She entered the guest room and found that some clothes and pyjamas had been put out for her. She wondered when he had had the chance to do that, but relished the idea of getting rid of the filthy jeans and jumper that she had been wearing for the last 2 months.

As she laid on the incredibly comfortable double bed, she thought about all the things Malfoy had said. Had he really just been jealous of them all that time? He said he was different and didn't believe all the pure blood nonsense anymore, but how serious was he? Surely he couldn't just change in a matter of weeks? And the things he said about her being beautiful, what was that about? Despite her tiredness, she laid there for the longest time, unable to sleep. At some point, she got up and headed downstairs for a drink. Something she also fully appreciated, after so long confined to a single room.

When she arrived in the kitchen, she found Malfoy standing at the sink looking out into the night, wearing nothing but loose fitting pyjama pants.

He started at the sound of her approaching footsteps.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you' she said.

"Oh, its ok, I was off in my own world" he said.

"Can't sleep?" she asked.

He shook his head. "You?"

"No, I suppose not" she said.

"Is the bed ok?" he asked.

"I've spent the last 2 months on a filthy mattress with the same dirty blankets, cleaning myself in a hand basin. This place is like heaven. In fact, I actually think I'm dead" she said, trying to put some humour into their conversation.

"I'm sorry about that" he said.

"It's not your fault, you were just doing what you were told. Besides, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been fed and wouldn't have had someone to talk to" she said, patting him on his surprisingly muscular shoulder as she walked past to get a glass for water.

As she reached for the tap, she saw in all its glory, the dark mark inked on his arm, clear as day and swirling like it was alive.

"He's summoning me" he said, noting her looking at it.

"Oh…" was all she could say.

"I'm not going" he said quickly, too quickly perhaps.

"I believe you" she said.

She sipped on her water as they stood in silence. She could feel his eyes on her but she didn't dare to look in his direction.

"Granger…" he said. She sensed the anxiety in his voice as she turned to him. "I'm afraid" he said.

"Me too… That's how you know you're alive" she said, rubbing his arm comfortingly.

"Will you do something for me? You can say no" he said.

"If I can I will" she said, honestly.

"Will you lay with me?" he asked.

She was thrown by this question. She didn't expect him to ask _that_.

"I uh…" she said.

"Never mind, it was a stupid question, don't worry. Good night" he said as he walked back through the living room and up the stairs, leaving Hermione completely confused. The idea of lying beside Malfoy would ordinarily have been something completely out of the question, but when she thought about how afraid he seemed and how afraid she felt, she knew what she needed to do.

She turned out the light as she left the kitchen and crept up the stairs. Her heart was beating fast as she pushed the door to his room open and tip toed to the side of his bed. Without saying a word, she got in under the covers and laid there still. As her heart slowed and her breathing eased, she could hear the sound of his breathing and realised he was crying.

"I'm sorry, you just caught me off guard, I didn't mean to upset you" she said, confused as to why her hesitation would illicit such a response.

He turned over to face her and she saw the moonlight reflect the tears that shone on his face.

"Gosh Granger, it's not about you. "I'm just afraid of what he's doing to my parents right now. I betrayed him and them, he'll kill them for sure" he said.

"Oh…" she answered. "Do you regret helping me?" she asked.

"Never. I would have helped you regardless, I think" he said, looking into her face. His eyes flickered briefly to her mouth and back to her eyes and she wondered if he was thinking of kissing her.

"Well, we both really need our sleep, so, good night Malfoy" she said, putting a pillow between them as a neutral zone.

"Night Granger" he said, rolling over.

 **AN: Ok, so confession time. I have a habit of rushing the friendship between these two when i write. It is my very own pet peeve that i hate hate hate when i read Dramione ff but i seem to do it myself. All these great ideas, but i try so hard to get to what the story is about that i don't really explain the lead up that well. If you've ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome, i might assume that Hermione maybe experiencing a bit of that. I glossed over a lot of the dialogue between the two in the 2 months that Hermione was in the cellar, but if you read between the lines, you'll notice that they both let their barriers down and began talking like friends way before the escape. So it doesn't really seem that unrealistic that they would end up how they have in the end of this chapter. Now, if you've followed correctly, she was snatched in March and its been two months. So... that means the battle is near. Stay tuned. Lets see how this turns out.**  
 **Also, i know it was too easy for them to get the cup. So what. Don't like it? Bugger** **off.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: This chapter lifts some descriptions and wording directly from Deathly Hallows, but it was necessary for the authenticity of the story. See if you can find it and let me know... Enjoy.**

Hermione woke late the next morning with the sun streaming in. She felt quite warm and when she took notice of where she was, she realised why. The pillow that had been the barrier between the two was gone and Malfoy had wrapped his arms around her from behind. At first she was mortified, regretting her choice to sleep beside him, but when she really thought about it, it was the most innocent natural response to fear that she could imagine. And it did feel quite nice not to wake up alone for once.

She didn't lay there for long before she felt him tense around her. She felt his morning erection graze against her lower back before he carefully removed his arm from around her body and she turned to face him.

"Sorry… I, uh… sorry" he said, sitting up and throwing his legs over the side of the bed, holding a pillow on his lap as casually as he could.

"It's ok" she said, not sure how to reassure him.

"You didn't, I mean, I didn't… It wasn't… Shit" he stammered.

"Its fine, I'm a big girl, I can handle it" she said, wanting the awkward conversation to be over. She got up and left the room, heading down to the kitchen for breakfast.

She made some tea and put some toast in the unused toaster. She prepared breakfast for them both before her bladder got the better of her. Heading upstairs, she noticed his bedroom door was shut. Assuming he was getting dressed, she pushed open the bathroom door and saw that Malfoy was getting out of the shower, dripping wet, completely naked.

"OHMYGOD" she squealed as she shut the door and ran off back down the stairs.

She sat at the table, nibbling on toast as he came downstairs with a grin on his face, wearing nothing but casual shorts.

"You're not smiling about that are you? I'm mortified" she said.

"I have nothing to hide" he said.

"Clearly" she said, thinking that with a package like that, who would hide it.

"Your door was shut, I thought you were in your room" she said, head in her hands.

"Don't worry about it Granger" he whispered in her ear as he walked behind her to the other side of the table. If she didn't know any better, she would think he was flirting with her.

"I'll just…" she said, indicating upstairs as she got up and ran up the stairs and into the bathroom.

She showered quicker than she had last night and dressed in the clothes in the guest room. Still mortified, she went back downstairs to find Malfoy sitting beside the wireless, saying random words and tapping it with his wand.

"Do you own a shirt?" she asked.

He looked up at her, grinning and placed a finger to his lips as he continued his attempts to get the wireless to work.

She finished off her breakfast while she dried her hair with her towel. After she had finished and tied half of her hair back, Malfoy gave up with the wireless.

"It's difficult because not only do you need to get the password right, you need to get on while they're on" she said.

"So what do we do now?" he asked.

"Well, we can stay here and wait for something to happen, or we can go searching for the boys?" Hermione said.

"I like it here" Malfoy said. "It's quiet and we have everything we need" he said.

"I know, I really like this place too, but we need to destroy the cup and help find the rest of the Horcruxes. This needs to end" she said.

"You're the most normal person I know. I guess I just like sending time with you and I know that will end as soon as we find Potter and Weaselby" Malfoy said. Hermione ignored the comment about Ron.

"I've really appreciated getting to know you as well, and who knows, maybe it won't be all that difficult getting the guys to understand?" she said, hoping to appease him.

"hmm" Malfoy said as he left the dining room and went up to his room to finish getting dressed.

Hermione sensed that there may be something more to what Malfoy was saying, but she didn't dare bring it up with him. She browsed the collection of books that were neatly stacked on the living room bookshelves and chose one at random, taking it out into the backyard sunshine to read. She had read two chapters before Malfoy came outside.

"I'm sorry, I'm an idiot. How about we start tomorrow, we'll backtrack all the places you camped and see if we can find them" he said.

"That sounds great" Hermione said.

The two spent the day randomly attempting to tune into the wireless and reading to themselves. They didn't talk much and Hermione sensed that something was wrong. She chose not to act on it though, as she didn't think she had the strength to deal with his issues as well as her own. She desperately wanted to get to the boys, destroy the cup and find the rest. Now that there would be 4 of them, it would be more likely that they would find the other Horcruxes.

Late in the afternoon as Hermione was trying desperately to tune into the wireless, she was finally lucky enough to hear familiar voices.

"Malfoy! Quick, I got it!" she called. "The password was 'no nose'. Can you believe it?" she called as he came running.

"Lightening has struck, I repeat, lightning has struck at Hogwarts" came the unmistakable voice of Seamus Finnigan before the signal dropped out.

At this, Hermione's jaw dropped and she looked to Malfoy.

"Do you think…." She began.

"Get your things, we're going to Hogwarts" Malfoy said.

At this, Hermione jumped up and ran up to the guest room where she had left the pouch Malfoy had given her for the cup. She quickly performed an undetectable extension charm that she had now mastered and stuffed all the clothes that Malfoy had given to her as well as a couple of things from the bathroom and, running down into the kitchen, she shoved some bits and pieces of food in there as well.

Malfoy looked on in surprise.

"Wow, you can fit a lot in there" he said.

"Undetectable extension" she said as she ran about collecting things she thought they may need. "Ok, I'm ready, let's go" she said.

"Now wait, there are charms all over Hogsmead to stop people apparating in undetected. We need a plan" he said.

"To hell with the plan, we apparate directly into one of the tunnels" she said.

"They're all blocked Granger. Come on, think" he said.

The room of requirement?" she asked. "Surely it will allow for us to apparate in if that's what we need?" she suggested.

"No good, it won't work. I tried everything… wait, I have an idea" he said, taking her hand. She didn't flinch, nor did she ask questions as he disapparated with her out of the house.

They arrived in the same alleyway they had when they came for Gringotts.

"Borgan and Burks" he said, and Hermione instantly knew what they were doing.

"The cabinet?" she asked.

"The cabinet!" he confirmed.

Draco broke into the shop and immediately found the cabinet at the back of the store under a sheet. Hermione was surprised to see it still there. She was certain that once it was discovered that it was a direct link to Hogwarts that it would have been moved or destroyed.

"No one thought to destroy it and I guess after what happened, everyone forgot about it" he said, as if to answer her unasked question.

He opened the door to the cabinet and they climbed in together, their bodies pressed together in the tiny space. His hands rested on her hips and hers were by her sides.

"Hang on, I have to do one thing first…" he said, looking into her eyes. Before she could ask, he leant down and kissed her softly on the lips. She closed her eyes and allowed it to happen uncertain as to whether or not she hated it or really enjoyed it. _It's Malfoy!_ When he pulled away, she opened her eyes and saw him look shamefully at their feet.

"Sorry, I had to do that while I still had the chance" he said.

"Right… well, let's get going then, shall we?" Hermione said.

Malfoy muttered the phrase that was necessary to transport them through the cabinet and Hermione felt a cold wave wash over her.

"Are we there?" she whispered.

"I think so" he replied.

He opened the door quietly and stepped out, leading the way for Hermione to follow.

"I don't understand, this isn't the room of requirement" he said, fear radiating through his body.

"Where are we?" Hermione asked, looking around the tiny dark room. It reminded her of the cellar she had just spent 2 months in. "No! No, no no… Not back here, I can't be back here! We need to go back!" she said, panic starting to overcome her.

Draco held onto her hand and reached for the door that was in front of them.

"Look, there's light underneath the door. And can you hear that?" He asked. "Voices, listen" he said.

"That's not death eaters" she said.

Draco opened the door and the pair entered into a seemingly empty room.

Hermione looked around and didn't recognise the room they were in. It was not one that she had ever been in during her time at Hogwarts.

It looked enormous, like the cabin of a rather large ship. There were multi coloured hammocks hanging from the ceiling and from a balcony that ran around the perimeter walls. The windowless walls were panelled in wood and covered in tapestries from the various Hogwarts Houses. Except for Slytherin.

"I think we're in Hogwarts" Hermione said quietly.

Looking around, Hermione saw many bulging bookcases, a number of broomsticks, a large wireless and various other seemingly random objects.

"Hermione?" Came a voice from across the room. It was Ginny Weasley.

"Ginny!" Hermione called back as she ran over to where Ginny stood staring at her.

The girls hugged tight before the rest of the crowd turned to see her standing before them.

"How did you get here? Where have you been? Harry just got here, he's looking for some diadem or something. He said you were taken" Ginny said, almost all at once.

"Malfoy brought me here" she said.

"Malfoy?! What the hell is he doing here?" she asked, suddenly noticing his presence behind Hermione.

"He's on our side" Hermione said. "He helped me escape" she said.

"Escape? Escape what? Where have you been?" Ginny asked.

"That doesn't matter Gin, you said Harry has gone looking for something?" she asked.

"Yeah, the lost Diadem of Ravenclaw" she said. "I was told to stay here because I'm underage. Everyone else was gathering in the great hall" she said.

Before Hermione could speak, a high cold clear voice rang throughout the room, as though it was coming from the walls themselves.

"I know that you are preparing to fight, your efforts are futile, you cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you, I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I will leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded… you have until midnight".

Hermione looked to Draco, who had turned white as a ghost. He had clutched at the mark on his arm unconsciously and tears filled his eyes.

"Its ok, Malfoy, its ok, you're safe here" Hermione said.

"The whole order is here, plus all the members of the DA. They are willing to fight" Ginny said.

A few moments later, the door to the room of requirement burst open and students started filing in, led by various house professors towards another door at the other end of the room.

"They're evacuating the younger ones" Ginny said, as though narrating a movie. The whole scene before Hermione seemed to be too surreal for her to really take in.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and brought herself back to the present.

"So, Harry is looking for the diadem, you say?" she asked her.

"Yeah, no idea why, but apparently its important. It will help defeat Him" she said.

"Come on…" Hermione said to Malfoy "I have an idea. Sorry Ginny, you're safer here" she said.

Hermione exited the room, pushing past students who were coming in.

"Was that Hermione Granger?" came one voice.

"I'm certain that was Malfoy" came another.

Hermione didn't look back, but took Draco by the hand and ran to the bathroom on the third floor.

"What are we doing here? Surely a bathroom break can wait?" Malfoy asked.

"Shush" she said as she looked at the taps beneath the sinks. "Found it" she said.

"Found what?" he asked.

Instead of telling him what she was doing, Hermione hissed a strange slurring of sounds and the sink in front of them began to move.

"What the hell was that? You're a parselmouth?" Draco asked.

"No, god no, Harry talks in his sleep" she said. "This is the entrance to the chamber of secrets. Ive never been down here, but the boys told me all about it" she said.

They slid down the passageway and travelled through the tunnels before reaching the chamber.

The chamber was flanked with towering pillars that were intertwined with carved wood. At the far end of the chamber was a statue of Salazar Slytherin.

"Come on, we should hurry" Hermione said.

Running the length of the chamber with Draco following behind, Hermione reached what she had come for; the remains of the basilisk.

She grabbed one of the fangs and pulled hard, yanking it out of the skull of the incredibly large snake.

"This is incredible" Draco said. "I can't believe he fought this and survived" he said.

"It is truly remarkable" Hermione stood, taking in the brilliance of the vast room.

Reaching into her pouch, she pulled out the cup and sat it on the floor.

"You do it" she said, handing the fang to Malfoy.

"What? I… I can't do that" he said.

"It's your chance to do something good Malfoy, just stab it" she said. "No matter what happens, just stab it, ok?" she said, knowing that it would be likely that the part of Voldemort's soul would be likely to put up a fight.

He looked at Hermione and raised the fang above his head. As he was about to bring it down, a voice echoed from within the hollow of the cup itself.

"Draco, my faithful friend. You have everything I have ever wanted in a follower…. Kill the mudblood and come back to me... I will give you power and greatness beyond your wildest dreams… Ohhh, but wait… I can see your dreams. You _desire_ the mudblood. She will never want you. She thinks she is too good for you. Kill her! Kill the mudblood for rejecting you. She is nothing, nothing. Come to me and accept your true fate by my side. We can rule. We can be the greatest wizards of all time… I will spare your family and forgive your misgivings. Come back to me and you will live. Come back to me and I will not torture and murder your family. You're the only one left Draco. Everyone is dead. Your family are all dead. Gone. You killed them….."

At this, Draco brought the fang down hard, piercing the cup straight through the side. Again and again he stabbed the fang into the cup until the fang snapped in half.

"Its ok, it's over, it's gone" came Hermione's soothing voice. He looked away from the cup and into her face. She noticed the tears that had formed in his eyes and had begun to run down his face.

"Its ok, it's not true, none of it is true. Your family are fine" she soothed.

Before either of them could react, Draco had pulled Hermione down to where he sat on his knees and buried his face in her hair.

"I'm sorry you had to hear all that. I don't know what to say, I just… I don't know" he said.

"Its ok, I'm confused too" she said truthfully. Since he kissed her, she had thought about the feel of his lips on hers, the way his hands felt as he held her hips in the cupboard and she now realised that she wanted to do it again. She wanted to be sure that she didn't imagine it.

Leaning in, she gently brushed his lips with her own, igniting a fire deep inside that she didn't want to extinguish. Ever so suddenly, Draco's hands were in her hair, on her hips, crushing her to him. She relished in the feel of his passion and returned with matching desire. She now wanted nothing more than to sit here on this damp floor and kiss Draco Malfoy – the boy, no, the man, who saved her, who changed her, who _she_ changed. The man who had been her rock and had allowed her to be his. Their tongues tested and tasted one another before eagerly exploring beyond the boundaries of each other. Hermione felt herself almost melt into him as he poured everything that he had into her and she did the same. Nothing else mattered in this moment and she was now absolutely certain that she desperately desired Draco Malfoy. As their passion slowed to a stop, their mouths lingered and they sat breathless for a moment before separating.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Draco said.

"I'm not sorry… and I _did_ mean to" she said back, as she stood. "Come on, we have to go".

The pair exited the chamber, hand in hand and made their way back to the castle.

"Should we talk about what happened?" Draco asked.

"I don't think so… Not just yet" she said.

On their way back through the castle, Hermione and Draco ran into Harry and Ron, who were heading for the 7th floor.

"Hermione!" Harry called. "You're here.. What happened, how did you… Why is Malfoy here?" he asked.

"Harry! Ron! I'm so glad to see you both!" she cried out as they pulled her into a hug.

"What are you doing here, _Malfoy?_ " Ron spat.

"He's with me. He saved my life. He got me out. I was taken to Malfoy Manor and Malfoy kept me alive. He brought me food and bedding. He kept me going when I thought I might have died down there" she said. "He helped me escape and we found a Horcrux" she said.

At this, Harry shot Hermione a look as if to say 'don't reveal the secret'.

"Its ok, I had to tell him. He is on our side, I promise. We just destroyed the cup of Hufflepuff with one of the basilisk fangs, here…" she held out the damaged cup to Harry for him to look at.

"It put up a fight" said Hermione. Draco remained silent during this exchange and Hermione was grateful for it. She wouldn't handle an all-out brawl at the moment. "Anyway, we do have loads to catch up on, but it seems like there's a lot going on, so what do you need us to do?" Hermione asked.

"I need Ravenclaw's diadem. It's in the room of requirement" Harry said.

"Wait, is it an ugly tiara thing?" Draco asked.

"Its not your business, Death Eater" Ron spat.

"RON!" Hermione admonished. "Yes, it is like a tiara. Have you seen it?" she asked.

"I know exactly where it is" he said, leading them back to the room.

"We need to get anybody out, I'll go in and clear it out" Harry said.

Within minutes, he exited into the hall with a pleased looking Ginny Weasley, their faces flushed and their lips red. Hermione realised that passion was one of the ways that people dealt with situations like this.

Within seconds, the four of them left Ginny in the hall and disappeared into the room where things were hidden. From outside the room, it seemed like there was nothing of consequence going on. A few seconds ticked by as Ginny stood outside waiting and watching. When she heard footsteps approaching, she hid behind a tapestry on the wall. Peeking out, she saw Crabbe and Goyle enter into the room. Minutes passed by, or hours, Ginny didn't know before the door flung open, revealing intensely hot flames. Ginny held her breath as four people on brooms fell out into the hall. Harry picked up something that had fallen on the floor, stabbed it with what looked like a bone and kicked it back into the room, shutting the door behind it.

"I'm so sorry.." Hermione said, approaching Draco.

"It's ok… It doesn't even matter. They tried to kill us. They started the fire, in all honesty, it's their own fault. Don't even worry" Draco said.

"But Crabbe and Goyle were your friends" she said.

"Were… and now they're dead. What's next" he said, looking to Harry.

Harry stood, panting and covered in black soot and extended his hand to Malfoy, who shook it. Ron, although he refused to shake hands with Draco, nodded in his direction and Hermione took this to mean that all was well in boy land.

 **AN: Please review. It is showing a lot of traffic and even some followers,** **but no reviews as yet. Very sad. Come on guys, I'm putting so much effort into this on my second day off with my sick little boy. And please, pick up all my spelling mistakes and grammar issues. I will fix it if its a big deal, otherwise you'll have to live with it. Also, don't forget to read my other FanFics. Hopefully the next chapter will be up later today.**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN- Sorry folks its been a while. I was onto a good thing and now its been a week since i've updated. I've had a significant loss in my family so I'm not on my game. This FF has come to the end of where I had originally planned to take it (rather quickly, probably too quickly in fact), but it is my hope to continue... Stay tuned.**

Hermione woke with a start, sitting up in a strange bed. For a moment she thought she was back in the cellar and began to panic, but as she took a look around the room, she remembered falling asleep in a makeshift sleeping quarters in one of the classrooms.

She looked around the darkened room and saw the shapes of several people in beds nearby. Harry, Ron, Malfoy, Luna… She almost couldn't believe that just a few hours ago, Voldemort had been defeated. It wasn't without loss though, as many of their friends laid down their lives for the cause. She thought about the ones who she would never see again, who would never see their loved ones. People like Lupin and Tonks, who were new parents to baby Teddy. Fred, who died still smiling. Lavender Brown who was savagely attacked by Greyback. It was becoming all too real for Hermione, the more she thought about it, the more tears started pooling in her eyes.

"Hey" came a whispered voice.

She looked around at the beds nearby and saw Malfoy's eyes looking up at her from where he lay.

"Oh, sorry, did I wake you?" she asked.

"No, I wasn't really sleeping properly anyway" he whispered.

"Malfoy…?" she began after a while.

"Yeah Granger?" he said.

"Will you lay with me?" she asked, reminiscent of when he had asked her the same thing 48 hours ago.

"Of course" he said, sliding out of his bed and walking the sort distance to hers.

It was much smaller in this bed than the one at his cottage, but Hermione felt safer somehow once he had climbed in beside her.

There was nothing romantic or sexual about her desire to have him lay with her. It had only been two days, or was it three? …since she left the cellar, but she was beginning to think it had had more of an impact on her than she first thought.

They lay face to face completely silent for a while as tears rolled out of Hermione's eyes and onto the transfigured pillow. Every now and then, Malfoy would wipe a tear away and stroke her hair, a gesture she thought was completely not the old Malfoy, but something absolutely worthy of this new version of Malfoy that she seemed to like, a lot.

"It will all be ok, eventually" he whispered.

"I know" she said. "It's just… so much has happened in such a short amount of time. I think it will take a while to feel normal. Or, some kind of normal, at least" she said.

Malfoy hummed in agreement as he continued to stroke her hair. It didn't take long for her to drift back off to sleep and relive aspects of the battle over and over in her dreams, but knowing he was not alone, made the dreams easier to bear.

The following morning, Hermione woke up all alone. She looked around and saw that Harry and Ron were just stirring and everyone else had already gotten up. She rubbed her eyes and reached for her wand under her pillow, ensuring it was where she left it. She would never allow herself to be away from it again, not even for a second. Being without her magic for two months gave her a whole new appreciation for her talent and the things she could do with her wand, but it made her eager to begin to learn wandless magic as well.

"Lost in your thoughts?" asked Ron from his bed.

"Hmm? Yeah I guess I am" she answered, getting out of bed and going to sit between the boys' beds. "I was just thinking about how grateful I am to have this" she twisted her wand in her fingers.

"We never got around to talking about what happened, with all that happened after the battle" Harry said, rubbing his eyes and positioning his glasses on his face.

"If you don't want to, that's fine too" said Ron, eager to please. Hermione found this a little disconcerting. The feelings she thought were so strong and that kept her going in the beginning of her captivity were no longer as present in her mind. So much had happened and changed, she had no idea how to break it to him that she wasn't certain if they had a future together.

"No, it's ok, I've been wanting to tell you both all about what happened anyway" she said. When nobody said anything, she began telling the story of what happened.

"So, when you guys disapparated, the snatchers went through the tent. They didn't find anything of value, just bits and pieces of food. I don't know what happened to the beaded bag, but they didn't find it…" she said.

"We have it!" Harry interjected, reaching beside his bed, into his hooded jacket and pulling the small beaded bag from an inside pocket.

"Good. Thats fantastic" she said, taking the bag, happy that all her worldly possessions were now returned to her. "They were just going to take me to the ministry but after hearing your name Harry, they decided to take me to Malfoy Manor to see if Malfoy could identify me. When he told them who I was….."

"Git" mumbled Ron.

"…they threw me in the cellar. I did get a concussion from hitting the floor but Malfoy healed me straight away. A few days later I suppose, I don't know how long exactly, they took me out for questioning. I received this token of their appreciation…" she lifted her sleeve and showed the slowly healing letters engraved on her arm. The boys winced.

"… and I told them we had planned to go abroad, Europe, the USA maybe. I told them we were planning on running away because we thought we didn't stand a chance. I think I was rather convincing. Snape was there and I think he planted images in my mind of the Hufflepuff cup because every time I saw him, I saw the cup in my mind. They let me back down into the cellar after that. Then I started dreaming about it, thinking about it. There were no windows in the cellar, so I would sometimes count the seconds in my head as the days went by. Malfoy would bring me food every few days at first, then every second day then he started coming every day. He dressed my wounds and performed magic to help with the pain and the bleeding. I hated it at first, I couldn't stand the fact that _he_ was the one who was there, bringing me food, I hated him and I let him know it every time I saw him. I hated that he was the only single person I would see. Pretty soon, we started to talk. Just casual at first, I asked how long I had been there, I asked if the sun was shining, things like that. He was oddly nice to me, completely unlike the Malfoy we knew here. Then somehow, we started talking more. He told me that he hated doing what he was doing, that he didn't believe all that pureblood nonsense anymore and he was just as trapped and scared as I was. He couldn't leave either. Voldemort was holding him and his family hostage just as much as his family was holding _me._ The only difference was, his parents felt that they were doing their duty to their ' _dark lord'_ …" she said.

"So how did you get out?" Ron asked.

"I'm getting to that bit. So I was able to get Malfoy to trust me and I felt as though I could trust him. I told him that there was something I needed to get from his aunt's vault and begged him to help me. I told him that we could keep him safe. At first he refused, he was terrified that his parents would be killed but somehow I managed to convince him that Voldemort needed them alive more than he would want them dead. The day he agreed to help me was the day they had a huge meeting for all the death eaters. It was our only chance to escape, so we did. We got out of the Manor and we apparated to a little cottage that he is secret keeper for. No one else knows about it except him, and now me. We allowed ourselves some time to get our breaths before breaking into the vault. It was easy. Almost too easy. The things in the vault were charmed to burn the skin and multiply on contact, but I managed to get the cup and get out disguised as Malfoy's mum…"

The boys both gasped.

"We spent the next day trying to tune into the wireless, the same way you did, Ron, guessing passwords. It was tricky but then last night I heard the announcement and we came directly here" she said.

"How did you get in?" Harry asked.

"Oh, right, well I knew there was no way to get in, Malfoy had heard that Hogsmead was charmed so we went to Borgin and Burks and used the cabinet" she said.

"The cabinet? But that was in the room of requirement. The room was already being used" Harry said, puzzled.

"Well that's the strange thing. When we came out on the other side, the cabinet was in a little closet in the room of requirement. I suppose the room made an exception" she said, shrugging her shoulders.

'Then you and Malfoy went and used a basiisk fang to destroy the cup?" Ron asked.

"Well, I've heard Harry talk in his sleep enough, I just copied some of what I heard and the entrance to the chamber appeared. Quite strange really" she said.

It felt good to sit there with her two best friends, telling them about what she had been though. She had felt so disconnected with them during the last 2 months and it was nice to catch up. However, despite the joy she felt at this, she wondered where Malfoy had gone.

The trio sat for a while longer while Harry and Ron explained all about what happened to them after Hermione was snatched.

"We went straight back to the campsite to fight to get you but they had already taken you. We got the tent and your beaded bag and moved quickly before they came back for us. We started off looking for you in all the places we could think of" Harry started.

"We even went to the Leaky Cauldron and Harry was almost caught a few times" Ron continued.

"Anyway, we tried really hard to find you, we came out of hiding, using Dean for a lot of things. We went to Bill and Fleur's place to see if the Order could help. No one could help us, Hermione, absolutely no one. We got Dean to go back to Grimmauld Place to see if anyone was hanging around and after a couple of weeks, we were able to go back there and put up new protective enchantments and activate a new secret keeper charm. The place hadn't been touched, I don't think Yaxley even went in there. Kreacher was happy to see us and Dobby was there a lot. I asked them to try and find you but they couldn't. They were gone all day and all night for weeks but nothing! Then one day I saw a vision of Voldemort. He was mad. He was really mad. He had discovered that someone had gotten hold of the cup and that the others had been destroyed. That's how I knew about the diadem. He thought about them, the Horcruxes, one after the other" Harry said.

"So how did _you_ get into the school?" Hermione asked.

"We apparated into Hogsmead" Ron said.

"But it was charmed. The whole place was" Hermione said.

"Well we didn't know that at the time. We were almost caught when Aberforth Dumbledore saved us. There was a secret passageway from the room of requirement to the Hogs Head and we used it to get in" Ron said.

Hermione nodded, thinking deeply about all the things that had to fall into place for the three of them to survive the last few months.

"We really did just get really lucky, didn't we" Hermione said.

"Like I've said all along, most of what I have done has just been luck" Harry reminded her.

The three friends sat for a while, thinking about all the things that had happened during the last two months. They had almost given everything they had to ensure the survival of the wizarding world and to make it safe for muggleborns and pure bloods alike.

Hermione thought about Malfoy, wondering where he had gone. She looked over to his bed, trying to subtly identify if he had left any clues.

"He left" Ron said.

"Who? What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Malfoy. He probably buggered off back to mummy and daddy" Ron said.

"I wasn't… I mean… He can't have, his father died in the battle and his mother was taken to Azkaban yesterday" Hermione said.

"Lucius Malfoy died?" Harry asked, shocked.

"Did you not know?" she asked.

"No… I guess it all happened so quickly. I didn't see his body though" Harry said.

"Malfoy banished it" Hermione said in an offhand kind of way.

"I suppose he's gone to deal with that then" Harry said.

"I might go see if I can find him" Hermione said, getting up and ignoring the look on Ron's face.

"Wait…" Ron called after her as she exited the room into the corridor.

When he caught up with her, he led her to a stone bench seat nearby that hadn't been fully destroyed in the battle. There was a patch of blood on the floor nearby that Hermione cleaned absentmindedly with her wand as she sat down.

"I really wanted to talk to you, you know, about us" he said twisting his fingers together. Hermione hadn't seen Ron this anxious since he was trying to find someone to ask to the Yule Ball.

"I thought this would have to happen soon" she said.

"I want you to know that nothing has changed… for me" he said.

"Ron…" she began, looking into his desperate eyes, terrified that no matter what she said, she was about to break his heart. "I don't know how I feel at the moment. It's been a terrible couple of months and so much has changed…" she said.

"But so much is still the same. We made a promise to each other" he said.

At this, Malfoy appeared in the corridor, rounding the corner behind Ron, carrying two goblets and a plate of toast. When Hermione saw, she glanced up, momentarily, alerting Ron, who turned to see what was happening behind him.

"Right. I see…" said Ron as Malfoy backed away back around the corner where he came from.

"No Ron, you don't see! It's not black and white" she said, grabbing his hand in hers. She desperately wanted to let him know that she loved him so much and always had, but she felt something for Malfoy. She wasn't sure what it was or even if it was real, but she owed it to herself to see.

"Ron, I care about you. I have always had feelings for you, you're my best friend and I hope you will remain so, but right now, I can't allow myself to commit to a relationship with you when I'm just so confused. The battle ended just yesterday Ron. Just give it some time?" she said, hoping that he would find this ok.

"Do you have _feelings_ for him?" he asked in disgust.

"No… I don't know. Maybe. He was the only person I could rely on for 2 months. I don't know what I feel for him" she said.

"But you still have feelings for _me?"_ he asked.

"I told you I do" she said.

"That's all I want to know then" he said.

"But I can't commit to a relationship with you while I'm so confused" she said truthfully.

"Hermione, we have lost so much through this war. I thought I lost you for two months. I can't lose you again" he said. "If I have to wait for you I will. If you decide you want to be with that git, then I'll just have to deal with it" he said.

"Thank you Ron. I still have no idea what to do with myself after all this is over. I don't know where I'll go, what I'll do…. It just helps to know that we're ok" she said.

It felt incredibly odd to Hermione that they were being so open about their feelings, especially toward each other. It wasn't within their nature to openly talk about this kind of thing. The only time they had, was during the nights at Grimmauld Place when they would sit together, holding hands, talking about how badly they wished things would be different. Back then, it felt like if they didn't talk about it they might never know. Now, Hermione felt as though talking about this would mean that they can both be happy and remain friends, no matter what happened.

"I guess you better go find Malfoy before he eats your breakfast" Ron said. "I'll go get Harry and we'll see where the food is" he said.

Hermione hugged Ron before heading down the corridor to find Malfoy.

She didn't have to go far before she saw him sitting on a neatly stacked pile of rubble that used to be the entrance to a classroom.

"You were up early" she said as she sat beside him, picking at some cold toast he had on a plate.

"Hang on, I'll heat it up" he said, waving his wand over the cold breakfast. "I woke just as the sun came up and couldn't get back to sleep. You were finally sleeping peacefully so I went out to walk around a bit" he said as Hermione ate greedily.

"I really needed the sleep" she said.

"How did that conversation go?" Malfoy asked, gesturing back down the hall.

"It went well actually. He understands I need some time and is not going to push me" she said.

"Well… that's a real shame" Malfoy said.

"Why is it a shame?" she asked.

"I was looking forward to having to hex him" he said with a smile.

" _You're_ being protective of _me_?" she asked with a giggle.

"Hmm, seems I am" he said, shrugging.

They sat together in silence eating their breakfast, not addressing any real concerns that either of them had. Hermione couldn't forget the way they kissed during the battle and felt that, now the war was over, they may just go back to how things were. They hadn't had an opportunity to talk alone since arriving at Hogwarts during the battle and it was beginning to appear as the elephant in the room.

The castle was beginning to buzz with the sounds of the people who stayed behind to help clean up. Harry and Ron had come past on their way to breakfast and various members of the Order had resumed the efforts from the previous day to get things back to normal. The battle had had a huge toll on the castle and it would be a long time before it could be completely repaired.

Hermione worked alongside Harry, Ron, Dean Neville and Malfoy for most of the day, using magic to repair various parts of the castle. It had been interesting watching the interaction between the boys, with Malfoy trying his best to cooperate, Harry embracing the strange new friendship and Ron just trying to stay away from Malfoy. Dean had approached Hermione at one point and apologised for being the sole cause of her capture.

"Honestly, if you didn't disapparate you all out of there, then the 4 of us would have been locked up, not just me" she said. "I was angry at you at first, but it is what it is. There is no use being angry about what we can't change" she said. It was like a healing process for Hermione. It had only been a couple of days since she escaped but she felt as though she was starting to heal somewhat. It definitely helped to be surrounded by her friends.

They were slowing making progress when Professor McGonagall called a meeting. Everyone gathered in the now refurbished great hall as McGonagall took to the podium.

"It has been wonderful to have you all assisting with the rebuild of the grounds, but I fear I have asked too much, allowed too much of you all. You all fought exceptionally during the battle and those of you who have been students have tolerated some abhorrent conditions all year. It is now time for you all to go home, have some time to process what has happened and be with your loved ones. There will be an opportunity for you all to complete summer classes in order to obtain your NEWTS. Now I ask you all to go home, surround yourself with loved ones and do whatever it is that you need to do to care for yourself." She said.

When her words were met with silence, she continued, "I must advise you all, however, if there are any students who do not have the option to return home or who wish to stay for various other reasons…" she looked to Harry, Hermione and Malfoy… "There is always a place for you here. This is your home" she said.

At this, the group of people in the great hall looked around and the chatter began. Some were hesitant to leave, insisting that they stay and help, others were wondering where they might go, some were reluctant to leave because it meant they'd have to deal with the reality that loss brings and some were just happy to do as they were told.

As they exited the hall, Hermione began to wonder what was to come for her. She knew she wanted to take the option to obtain her NEWTS over the summer, but what might she do until then? Where would she go? What about her parents, whose memories she erased before sending them away?

Hermione was quiet while she returned to the classroom to tidy the beds the group of teenagers had slept on. She transfigured the beds back into tables and chairs and stacked them neatly how they were. Tipping out the contents of her beaded bag, she began sorting it into piles. She no longer had to carry the boys possessions around with her so there was no reason to.

She retrieved Harrys backpack from the very bottom, finding the clothes he wore to Bill and Fleur's wedding shoved inside. She thought back to that night and thought about how much she had grown since then. How much they all had. She began putting the boys things into the backpack that she had now magically extended and pretty soon, she had sorted everything and had a pile of things that she needed to banish to the garage.

While she was contemplating handing the bag over to Harry, Ron walked in.

"Hey, mum said you're welcome to come back home with us, you know, if you want. We'll mostly be organising stuff, you know… but you can stay there if you want" he said.

"Oh, right, well, thank you. I hadn't actually thought about where I was going to go" she lied. In fact, she had thought about nothing since McGonagall told them to all go home. She mightn't have a home to go back to. Not that she would want to return to an empty home that she hadn't really called home for the last 7years.

"Well, the option's there" he said, patting her on the shoulder and heading back out the door.

She thought about going to the Burrow, but the idea of intruding upon the family's grief and mourning process was daunting. She thought about going to Grimmauld place, now that she knew it was safe, but it was technically Harry's place and that it gave her the creeps. She couldn't imagine being there alone. The only alternative, she thought, was heading straight to Australia to find her parents, return their memories and bring them home.

It wasn't until she was about to leave the grounds did another option make itself available.

"So you're coming back with me, aren't you?" Malfoy asked her.

"Back? To the house of horrors? No thank you" she said, thinking of nothing worse than the idea of going anywhere near Malfoy Manor again.

Malfoy supressed a chuckle badly before speaking, "No, I mean the cottage. I thought you'd want to come with me. For a little while, at least" he said.

She didn't understand why she hadn't thought of this option. Things between her and Malfoy since their kiss during the battle had been purely platonic. While she thoroughly enjoyed kissing him and he was quite good at it, she wasn't sure if he would be ready to do it again, after everything that had happened. She recalled the looks on his parents faces when he refused to join them during the battle, declaring his allegiance to Harry and the Order of the Phoenix. She couldn't imagine how he might be feeling given that that was the last time he saw his father alive.

"I … I don't know" she said.

"Well, where were you planning on going?" he asked.

"To find my parents" she said.

"Now?"

"Well, yes"

"Your parents are fine where they are. You need to rest, eat and recover from what you've been through. Come to the cottage with me and I will make sure you're taken care of" he said. Hermione almost sensed a pleading tone to his voice, like he _needed_ her to come with him. Maybe _he_ didn't want to be alone?

"Ok" she said, resulting in a smile appearing briefly on Malfoy's lips that she so badly wanted to kiss again.

"Ok then. Let's go then?" he asked, as the neared the disapparation point at the gates leading out of the grounds.

She bid farewell to all of her friends, promising that she will visit often and do whatever she could to help with funeral arrangements. She received an awkward hug from Ron who she could have sworn was burning with rage, and a typical Harry hug before they left.

Within minutes, Hermione and Malfoy were twisting through thin air and appeared out the front of a small cottage that no one could see or enter except the two of them.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN- Sorry its been so long. Its been a rough couple of weeks for me. I promise that I will try my hardest to finish this fanfic. This chapter has been really difficult to write as it is more or less a filler chapter, full of anxt and whatnot. I have a brief idea where the rest of this ff is going. Stay tuned. And apologies for the cringe factor. That just happens with these types of stories :-D**

Hermione walked up the path that led to the front door of the cottage with nothing but her small beaded bag in her hands. She was starting her life from scratch.

As soon as Malfoy unlocked the front door with the enchantment he promised to teach her, they entered the cottage and Hermione went straight upstairs to have a shower.

"I'll get started on some kind of food then" Malfoy said as she trudged up the stairs.

Now that she was here, the events of the last three days were beginning to catch up with her. She undressed and stood under the warm running water, trying to let it wash away everything she was feeling. While she thought about what she had been through over the last 12 months, tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. The happiness and joy she felt over the defeat of Voldemort was beginning to be heavily outweighed by the grief and feelings of loss she felt when she thought of the ones who she'd never see again. Before she realised it, her tears had turned into heavy sobs and she was sitting on the floor of the shower, trying to get a hold of herself.

It was half an hour before she felt any desire to move. She had cried for everyone that had been lost, she had cried for her parents, for her pain, for her suffering, for Harry who was so brave he walked into the forest and stared death in the face. She cried for Ron and for the relationship that they never got a chance to explore. More than anything, she cried for the life that she now had to regain, the identity that she had to find. She had no idea who she was when she wasn't a Hogwarts student or part of the golden trio.

Standing up, she turned the shower off and reached for a towel. She slowly dried and dressed before heading downstairs to find Malfoy. She wanted to talk to him about whatever was or was not happening between them. She felt that perhaps he had come to his senses, decided that their kiss meant nothing and was happy to just be associated in this place until she sorts herself out.

She stood in the doorway of the kitchen and saw Malfoy at the stove with his back to her. She stood watching him for a while, apron on, recipe book open in front of him. There was a pot of some kind of liquid bubbling away on the stove. Whatever it was, it was smelling delicious so she stepped into the room and perched herself on a chair at the table.

"Feel better?" he asked, turning and flashing her a smile that she had rarely seen on his face.

"Much, thank you. That smells delicious" she said.

"Well, I can't guarantee it will taste good but I'm following this recipe like it's a potion" he said.

"Well, you were always quite good at potions, so hopefully it will be eatable" Hermione said, looking over his shoulder to get a glimpse of the pot. "So, what is it exactly?" she asked.

"Well, it is supposed to be some sort of vegetable stew, although I added some beef and a few other things, so I guess it's a casserole now" he said as he poured the two of them a glass of expensive looking mead.

"How do you even have all the things necessary to cook a meal like this?" Hermione asked, looking inside the fully stocked refrigerator.

"When I bought this place a few months ago, I told them I was going away for a while. The agent agreed to stock the kitchen and I put a charm on most of the food so it didn't go bad" he said.

"Money talks I suppose" she said.

"So does my uncanny charm" he said with _that_ grin. Hermione was captivated for a moment before going back to her mead.

"So what now then? How do you intend on getting hold of your money? How are you going to get by" she asked.

"I have enough here to last me quite a while" he said.

"Have you thought about getting a job or something?" she asked.

"Granger, with the amount I have in the safe upstairs, I could never work, ever, in my entire life, and still have some leftover, as long as I'm savvy" he said.

She was throw by this. She knew his family was wealthy, however, she wasn't prepared to be told that he _never_ had to work again.

"Wow, well, that is _great_ " she said, awkwardly as she drained her glass of mead.

As Hermione set about setting the table and helped plate up, the conversation stalled. They each took their place at the table and Malfoy poured them both yet another glass of mead. Hermione could feel herself getting tipsy but quickly realised she needed the liquid courage to broach the subject that had been the elephant in the room all night.

The conversation centred around idle chit chat as they ate their meal together. Hermione felt herself getting more and more anxious as the conversation began to drift to what they anticipated the weather might be the following day.

"So if it's sunny we should take advantage of it then" he said.

"I think we need to talk about what happened during the battle" she said suddenly.

"You'll need to be more specific, Granger" he said.

"You know what I mean… the kiss" she said.

"Kisses… Plural" he said.

"Exactly!" she said.

"We kissed" he said coolly.

"So are we going to talk about it?" she asked, placing her spoon in her empty bowl.

Malfoy sipped on his glass and seemed to ponder this question for a moment, he eyed her carefully before putting down his glass, standing and walking around the table to where she sat. Hermione felt her face flush as she watched his meticulously perfect motions. She watched him slowly and purposefully walk around the table, flicking his wand at the wireless as he went. A slow song came on and Hermione felt herself cringe ever so slightly at the moment's awkwardness.

"Dance with me" he said, as he held his hand out to her.

"Here?" she asked.

"Why not?"

"I…" she began. "I actually can't think of a reason not to" she said honestly.

She placed her hand in his, allowing him to pull her to her feet. The effects of the mead made her slightly wobbly, but she hid it well. She placed her arms around him and when he had put his hands on her waist, they moved slowly in time to the music.

The space was small, but they didn't need much. Hermione allowed her mind to wander while they swayed in time to the music, allowing herself to consider how right this felt. All the fighting she had done with herself over the idea of _Malfoy_ being someone she could see herself falling for was now pointless. She was well and truly in too deep.

As the music slowed, Hermione felt Malfoy come to a slow also. He placed his hands either side of her face and held her only inches from his own as he looked into her eyes. She could feel her heart beating frantically in her chest, betraying her usually calm façade.

"Oh gosh" she whispered, completely enthralled by him. "You're good at this" she said, feeling completely overcome.

"I told you that I didn't regret that kiss, Granger" he said softly.

"But…?" she asked, sensing he was holding something back.

"But nothing" he whispered, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

She felt her heart speed up as the intensity of the moment built. As he leant closer to her face she closed her eyes, anticipating his lips on hers. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to kiss him, given all that had happened since their last embrace.

His lips, soft and warm, gently brushed her own as one hand travelled down to her waist, pulling her closer. She leant into him, allowing him to take the lead. The kiss was not urgent like their last one in the chamber of secrets, nor was it tentative like their first. It was slow at first but built into something more, the longer they remained in each other's embrace. For Hermione, it felt like an eternity. An eternity of bliss. She was completely captivated. All her worries were non-existent, the grief and sadness at the losses she had experienced were gone, replaced by this moment. All too soon, however, the moment came to an end and Hermione was brought back to reality.

"Merlin…" she said quietly.

"Like I said, I enjoyed kissing you, Granger" he said, stepping away and taking their empty bowls to the kitchen.

Hermione stood there stunned for a moment before helping tidy up in the kitchen.

"Here, you cooked, I'll take care of this" she said, waving her wand over the dishes as they loaded themselves into the sink.

The pair moves around each other in the kitchen as though it were a practiced routine. Malfoy placed the left overs into the refrigerator, while Hermione charmed the plates to put themselves away.

"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked.

"Mrs Weasley is a brilliant housewife. I've spent so much time there over the last few years, I picked up a thing or two" she said, the effects of both the mead and the kissing wearing off.

The pair continued their evening as though nothing had happened. Hermione taught Malfoy how to use the TV and they both chose a movie to watch from the collection in the cabinet. The normalcy of the evening frustrated Hermione immensely. Why couldn't he just talk about what happened? Hermione barely paid attention to the movie that was playing as she was so caught up in thinking and over thinking what was going on between the two of them.

Just months ago they were mortal enemies, hatred running deep between them. He had said and done so many horrible things to her in the time that she has known him, but now he was someone different. He was sweet, kind, generous and he _enjoyed kissing her._ So why was it so difficult to determine exactly what was going on between them? They've enjoyed a few snogs, but what else? Was it more? Was there more to it? Did they have _feelings_ for one another that were more than just lust? Of course she was attracted to him, physically. She had always known he was attractive, but was there more to it? Could she _love_ him? Could he love _her_?

Hermione glanced over to him sitting on the other end of the lounge and watched as his face was alive with interest. He hadn't ever watched a TV before and it was thrilling seeing him experience this for the first time.

She stood and walked to the cupboard, retrieving a blanket before returning to the lounge. She sat beside him, placing the blanket over both of them. As if by instinct, Malfoy reached around her, pulling her closer to his body, never taking his eyes off the TV. Together they sat, watching the TV, so incredibly close together. If she struggled before, she now could not concentrate on anything apart from the way Malfoy's hand felt around her body. The way his fingers felt as they traced little circles on the flesh that was exposed at her waist. Shivers ran through her body that had nothing to do with the cold. She could tell he knew what he was doing to her, but he didn't allude to it.

The movie continued, as did Hermione's frustrations. Before long, the movie had finished and Hermione had no idea what had happened at the end of it.

"Well, I best be heading up to bed" she said, removing herself from his grip and stretching her arms and legs.

"That's a good idea, it's getting late" he said, laying the blanket over the back of the lounge. As he stretched, his jumper lifted, revealing his lower belly. Hermione was almost caught staring but quickly turned and switched off the TV before heading to the stairs. When she reached the top, Malfoy stood waiting for her.

"Good night Granger" he said.

"Night" she said back, hesitating, wondering if he was going to say anything else. They stood in an awkward moments silence before she turned and headed into her room. Climbing under the covers of the enormous bed, she thought about what had happened that day. Just that morning she had woken at Hogwarts where she had thought she would be spending quite a bit of time. Now she had to come up with some ideas for what she may do with her life next. Her only hesitation was, would she have to figure it out alone, or would Malfoy be somehow involved in her future?


	9. Chapter 9

**AN- cringey lameness coming. Sorry, not sorry.**

She laid in the comfort of the ridiculously expensive bed and tried for hours to get sleep. She hadn't slept alone since the cellar and now it was beginning to feel like she never would. Thoughts continued to roll around in her head. Thoughts of the past, of the present, of the future. They would not stop, no matter how hard she tried to sleep. Whenever she tried to stop thinking of the past, she'd worry about the future, about her parents and about how she might track them down in Australia. Or if she even wanted to. Blocking those thoughts seemed to make other thoughts more prominent in her head and she begun to think about Malfoy and all the things that had happened between them in the last few days. They had kissed three times now, yet she was nowhere near close to figuring out how she felt about it. She lusted after him, that was a given, but did she _feel_ something for him? She couldn't stop thinking about him, about how he had changed, about the things he had given up to save her. Surely he felt something for her? Surely whatever this thing between them was, was more than just snogging when things got too intense?

She laid there for the longest time before she heard movement in the hall. She guessed Malfoy hadn't been able to sleep either. She slipped out of the covers and headed downstairs where she heard him in the kitchen.

"Can't sleep?" she asked.

He just shook his head. She sensed something was a little off, so she approached him and by the light of the refrigerator, she could tell he had been crying. Without hesitating, she pulled him into a hug, holding him tight, not needing him to speak or to even hug her back. He just stood there, holding onto her, silently sobbing into her shoulder.

Hermione was confused by all of this, she had never had to comfort someone in this way before. Even after the battle, everyone was so focused on getting things done, there was never time for any of this.

"I'm here for you… talk to me" she said softly, when his sobs had slowed down.

"I feel so stupid" he said, stepping back, not looking at her.

"Don't" she said as she turned to make some tea. The fridge was still open, shining just the right amount of light into the kitchen.

"So much has happened. So much has changed. I know I should feel … something … but I just… I don't know what I feel. My father… He was my father, but he did the most horrible things. I don't even feel sad that he's dead. I feel relieved. How stupid is that?" He said.

"We've both been through a lot, you especially. You've changed your whole perspective on the world, it can't be easy. And you're not stupid for how you feel. There's no book that says how to feel after something like this" she said.

"You know the funniest thing?" he asked as she handed him a cup of tea.

"Sure" she said, hoping that it might make him feel better.

"All I want to do… all I can think about, is being with you... Kissing you…" he said, stepping back to where she now stood, abandoning his cup on the bench. "I want to kiss you, every second of every minute I am with you. I can't stop thinking about you and how much I just…" he stopped talking, took her face in his hands and kissed her. This time, his kiss was desperate, urgent and pleading. She returned his passion, knowing she felt the same way, but she knew how wrong this was. He was upset and no amount of kissing would make that go away.

When they stopped, he rested his forehead on hers.

"That's all I want. That's all I think about. You're like a drug I never knew I was addicted to" he whispered.

"We can't just snog our way out of our problems you know" she said, attempting to insert some humour into the situation. She knew very well that it would be a good distraction, but life would

"No, we absolutely cannot. But it's fun trying" he said with a half-hearted laugh.

"Indeed it is" she said, reaching up on her toes to kiss him again. "Drink your tea" she instructed, and he did so, quickly. When their empty cups were in the sink, Hermione took him by the hand and led him upstairs and into his bedroom, where they both climbed under the covers.

"Don't get any ideas" she said, as they facing each other in the bed.

"Granger, I have a million ideas all revolving around in my head right now and every one of them involves you. But I'm a gentleman and I'll keep those ideas to myself" he said. "For now" he added.

"How very gentlemanly of you. Now kiss me goodnight" she said.

"So bossy" he said as he moved forwards to kiss her.

Hermione woke the following day with a smile on her face. The sun was gleaming in through the window and Malfoy's arm was around her waist. She could tell he was still asleep because he was still breathing softy. She lay there relishing in the feeling of this closeness. She had no idea how much she needed to just lay with someone until now. Almost as if overnight, she found herself suddenly feeling like a 'woman' and less like the Gryffindor Princess.

She stretched as she rolled over and lay face to face with Malfoy. She studied the shape of his face, the ridges and dips in his features. She was so captivated with studying his features, she didn't notice when his breathing changed.

"You're staring at me" he said.

"Your eyes are closed, how do you know?" she asked.

"I can feel you watching me" he said as he opened his eyes, squinting in the sun.

"Well…" she began, rolling over to face away from him.

"Come here" he said, grabbing her and pulling her close. He nuzzled in close to her neck and she felt him breathe in.

"Are you smelling me?" she asked, feeling amused.

"So what if I am?" he asked. "You always smell so good" he said.

Hermione rolled over onto her back so she could more easily talk to him. She wanted to start planning her next few weeks and she needed to talk to him about it. Malfoy, however, had other plans.

He leant up on his elbow so he could see her more easily. She was about to ask what he wanted to do for the day when he leant down and kissed her. It was an unexpected delight and all thoughts left her mind as she returned his kisses with her own.

Hermione was lost in the passionate encounter as she allowed her body to take over. She was no longer the logical thinking Hermione, she was all sensation and euphoria. The two of them allowed their instincts to take over, their hands exploring, casually pushing the unspoken boundaries that had been in place. Out of nowhere, Malfoy was hovering above her, still kissing her, leaning on both of his elbows with his hands in her hair. She was not afraid of the closeness, in fact, she relished it. She could feel the slight weight of his body on hers and the unmistakable pressure of his arousal building and pressing into her thigh. She was captivated by all the sensations that were coursing through her body and found herself lost in these strange, exciting new feelings. Malfoy was subtly pressing himself into her, grinding his body against hers and she continued kissing him, allowing all of her thoughts to be forgotten. It seemed as though time had stood still while they were trapped in this sensual encounter. He was kissing her mouth and her neck and she thought she would never want this moment to end. She had no idea how long it had been, when his right hand moved to travel down her body. She allowed him to graze her breast, but when his hand move further and further down her body, her breath hitched and she was suddenly completely aware that she and Malfoy were almost too close. She wasn't saving herself for marriage, but she certainly wasn't ready to have sex.

"I think…" she said between kisses… "That we should… get up… and…. mmm… have some breakfast" she said, through moans and kisses.

"You're completely right" he said, still kissing her neck.

"Before we do anything we may regret?" she said, hesitantly.

This caused him to stop in his tracks and she was suddenly aware that she may have completely ruined the moment.

"I mean, this is great, more than great. But… I'm not... I mean… I want to… I just… It's just…" she stammered.

"It's ok. I wasn't planning to…" he said.

Hermione was so embarrassed, she didn't think she could turn any redder. Mortified, she pulled a pillow from underneath her head and covered her face with it.

"This is so awkward" she said.

"I shouldn't have let it go so far" he said.

"No, I liked it, I just… I think we need to be clear about some things... I've never… I mean, I haven't…" she said, unsure how to let him know she might not be as experienced as he is.

Malfoy was now lying beside her, running his hands through his hair. Initially, Hermione thought he was frustrated.

"I'm sorry, I didn't assume you had. I wasn't going to do anything you weren't comfortable with" he said.

"Its ok, you're far more experienced than I am… you're probably used to certain things, a certain type of girl, I suppose" she said attempting it to be an offhand type of comment.

"You think that?" he asked.

"Everyone thinks that… Weren't you in a relationship with Pansy Parkinson?" she asked.

"I wouldn't call it a relationship…" he said, sitting up. "She threw herself at me, her parents encouraged us to be together but I couldn't stand her" he said sadly.

"So you didn't…" she asked, now sitting cross legged on the bed.

"Well I didn't say that I never did anything with her. I was young and stupid. It was just something to brag about. You know, I was a pretty huge prat" he said.

"So you took advantage of her feelings for you?" she said, suddenly aware that this was Draco Malfoy she was talking to. Maybe he was more of a prat than even she thought he was. "She was crazy about you, everyone thought you two were going to get married someday" she said, feeling sorry for the girl she had always hated.

"That's not how it is at all. She would sneak into my dorm and put up silencing charms on the curtains of my bed. Most of the time, I woke up and she was already in my bed. I was just a teenage kid, hormones and all… Usually I just let it happen" he said.

"So you're just her victim?" Hermione said sarcastically.

"No, of course not. I never said no and I always had a good time… But I never alluded to the fact that I had feelings for her… It wasn't like me and you" he said.

"Me and you?" she asked, wondering how he might explain the difference.

"Well…" he hesitated… "I actually enjoy your company, I _like_ talking to you and being around you. I want to take care of you and go places with you, show you the world and then some… The snogging is a huge bonus, but actually, it's good to have some stimulating conversation then snog afterwards" he said.

"So you didn't just bring me here because you felt sorry for me?" she asked.

"What? No, Granger… I want to be around you. I didn't bring you here to get into your pants or because I felt sorry for you…. I care about you" he said.

"OK" she said, with a tone of finality.

"OK?" he asked.

"Ok. Let's go have breakfast and decide what we're going to do with ourselves today" she said, getting up out of the bed.

A little over an hour later, the two of them were standing in the middle of muggle London, surrounded by people rushing by, going about their lives. In front of them stood the biggest shopping complex in London. They were hand in hand, Malfoy refusing to let go once they had arrived in London. Hermione wasn't sure if this was for her safety or his.

"I can't believe how completely normal it feels to be out in public" Hermione said, thinking about the last time she had been out and about.

"Well it's definitely different" Malfoy said, as he took in the enormity of the building before him.

"My parents used to being me here for some shopping. It's the best place to get everything we need in one building" she said, trying to explain the concept of a shopping complex to the pure blood wizard beside her.

"So, let me get this straight, this one building will have every shop a muggle could possibly need?" he asked.

"Basically"

"Food?"

"Yes"

"Clothing?"

"Of course"

"Furniture?"

"Some"

"Surely not cars?"

"Well, no… but I imagine there would be a dealership somewhere nearby" she said.

"What about pets, books, jewellery?" he asked, still in disbelief.

"You really need to get out more" Hermione said with a tone of humour. She was highly amused by the fact that, while Malfoy was a highly intelligent and knowledgeable wizard, he had no idea about the muggle world at all.

"Seems I do" he said, taking in the immense building as they entered through the double glass sliding doors.

"I'll teach you everything I know" she said giving his hand a squeeze.

For all intents and purposes, the two looked like a completely ordinary young couple. They explored the shops, one by one, Malfoy splurging on a whole new wardrobe for himself, apparating to and from the cottage when the bags became too much to carry. When the passed by a women's clothing store, he took her by the hand and led her towards the doors.

"What are you doing? I don't have any money" she said.

"Granger, I have more money than I could spend in a lifetime. Let me spend it on my girlfriend" he said.

"Your girlfriend?" she asked, both shocked at this admission and amused by the nonchalant manner in which he said it.

Malfoy suddenly looked a little scared. They stood in the middle of the walkway, both looking at each other expectantly.

"Well… I mean, aren't you? Aren't we?" he asked, thrown by her questioning. "If you don't want to be that's fine… I just… I thought… Merlin Granger will you say something?" he stammered. Hermione was highly amused at this reaction from him. She had never seen him so lost for words, so uncertain of himself. It was interesting, to say the least. A smile crossed her lips, as she stepped forward and kissed him softly on the lips.

"Of course I want to be your _girlfriend_. I just thought there may be some sort of discussion, a formality or something" she said.

"Always needing clarification, Granger..." he said. "How about this…" he began, taking both f her hands in his, "Hermione, will you be my girlfriend?" he asked.

"You said my name…" she said, stunned. He had never used her first name before. They had always had a strange surname banter and hearing him say her first name was very odd.

"I did… Now what do you say?" he asked, impatiently.

"I'll have to think about it… It's a big decision you know. Huge" she said, sarcastically.

"You're an impossible woman, Granger" he said.

"Of course I'll be your girlfriend" she said with a smile on her face.

"Good. Now I'm buying you whatever I want to buy for you and you're going to let me" he said, leading her into the hip clothing store.

"You know, I'm not doing this for your money" she said.

"I never thought, for a moment that you were" he said, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.

They looked around the store, Hermione picking out various items of clothing for herself. Every now and then, Malfoy would hold up a piece of clothing that he liked and occasionally Hermione would nod or screw up her nose.

When she had tried everything on, declining the assistance of her _boyfriend_ , Hermione handed all of the suitable items to the all too helpful sales assistant who rung it up on the cash register. Malfoy watched on with interest, as the electronic cash register scanned and calculated the total. Reaching into his inner coat pocket, he pulled out a wad of cash, handing it to Hermione to pay, as he was still unsure of muggle money.

As they exited the shop, Malfoy asked Hermione, "How much was that, in wizard currency?"

"Um, let me think…" she began. "280 pounds… Just over 56 galleons" she said.

"That's nothing, let's go find some more things to buy" he said.

"How about we buy something for the cottage, you know... make it feel like your home?" she asked.

"Our home?" he asked.

"What? I'm not… I mean, we're not… It's just temporary… isn't it? I'm not living there for good. I can't just mooch off you, I will get my own place when I get a job" she said, not sure she was ready for a live-in relationship.

"Its fine, whatever… We'll just take things as they come then?" he asked.

Hermione sensed that he was hurt by her slight rejection. She directed them towards a bench seat that was surrounded by plants in a small seating area. She had to set things straight before they could move forward.

"I care about you, and I am happy that we're together. I just… We're young. We shouldn't be living together and in a new relationship. It's just…" she said.

"Not normal?' he asked.

Hermione just nodded, uncertain of what to say.

"Look around Granger, nothing about us is _normal_. Nothing about the last week has been normal. We escaped hell, robbed a bank, fought in a battle, watched people we once cared about die, tried to be happy about the end of the war and now we're here, in the middle of muggle fucking London, trying to be normal when we're anything _but_ normal. Our whole relationship is completely abnormal. Merlin, 3 months ago, we'd sooner kill each other than snog each other. But I am in love with you Granger. I want to be around you, all the time. I don't want to be anywhere where you're not. I want you to stay with me" he said anxiously.

"You're in love with me?" she asked.

"Is that all you heard, from all of that?" he asked.

"Well, you swore too" she said. "But mostly that you're in love with me" she said.

"And… what do you say about that?" he asked.

"I… I care about you…" she began.

"But you don't feel the same?" he asked, hurt.

"I don't know what I feel, I want to be around you, I enjoy your company and I thoroughly enjoy snogging you… but… I just want to be certain. When I tell someone I love them, it's because I'm absolutely unequivocally, head over heels, crazy in love with them" she said, hoping that he would be happy with her answer.

"And you don't feel that way?" he asked.

"In all honesty, it has been a really rough few days. I don't know what I feel. Can't we just let things take their course? Why do you need me declaring my feelings for you, now, when it's so so early?" she asked.

"I don't… I'm sorry, I just don't want you to leave" he said.

"I'm not going anywhere right now" she said, cupping the side of his face. This was the first time she had really seen Malfoy vulnerable in this way. It was both scary and heartening. The intensity of his feelings was slightly overwhelming, but at the same time, it was nice to know how he felt.

She kissed him, gently, appropriately, considering they were out in public.

"Come on, let's go eat" she said, hoping that this conversation could be over.

If she honestly thought about her feelings, maybe she did love him. Everything she did and thought led her to that conclusion, but every time she thought about love, she immediately thought about Ron. She had once declared her love for Ron and made promises that didn't come to fruition. She didn't want to tell Malfoy that she loved him if she didn't think she would be able to act on it. She had no way of knowing what was ahead for the two of them, where they would end up in this strange new world. If he would reunite with his mother and how she would feel about this relationship. And her parents. She had to go find them at some point and she had no idea how long that would take. She needed to tell him that she had to go away eventually but the thought of being apart from him was not one that she was ready to entertain just yet.

 **AN- forgive grammar and spelling. I'm in a hurry.**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN- Not going to apologise for cringe factor... Just consider the last one ongoing. Please review so that i know people are still reading this.**

Hermione collapsed into an armchair, exhausted after a whole day shopping.

"I didn't know that shopping could be so tiring" said Malfoy from the lounge where he had fallen.

"Well, it isn't usually, but we went into every store" she said.

"Its good to get a complete understanding of what's available in the muggle world" he said.

"Baby stores even?" Hermione asked, recalling Malfoy's adventure through cribs and strollers.

"Everything" he said with an exhausted smile.

"Well I think after today you've seen just about all there is to see of the muggle retail industry" Hermione said.

"I still want to buy a car someday" he said.

"What use do you have for a car?"

"They look like they're fun to operate"

"You will need to get your driver's license first"

"Shouldn't be too difficult"

"I wouldn't be so sure"

The two continued their banter while they recovered from their long day and before they knew it, it was night time.

"What are we going to do with all these things?" she asked.

"Well, usually my mother would call the house elf" he said. Hermione winced at this, as she hadn't been keeping up to date with her SPEW requirements. She had remembered when some of the house elves has joined in the battle, with some sacrificing themselves for the cause. This was perhaps the first time that Hermione acknowledged that the Elves actually enjoyed serving witches and wizards. She would never force a house elf to do anything for her, however, she no longer felt as passionately about freeing them from their duties as she once had.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to teach you how to do things for yourself then, wont I?" she said. "Come on" she said, as she stood up from the armchair, taking his hand in hers, "let's go find a place for all this" she said, looking through the bags to sort them out.

Malfoy stood, reluctantly, observing her as she categorically started placing bags in various piles.

"Now, you take these up to your bedroom" she said, handing him an armful of bags, "and when you get back, these are for my room" she said, pointing to another pile of bags.

As he went upstairs, she began sorting through the various bags of food items and started putting them in places she thought they ought to go. They had even bought new dinner sets and cutlery, so she began looking through cupboards to find the best place to put them.

"Just throw the old ones away" came Malfoy's voice from the doorway. "We don't need them anymore" he said.

"We could just give them to charity" she suggested.

"People use other peoples second hand plates?" he asked.

"Some people have no choice" she answered. "Some people weren't born into privilege or money. Not many people in their whole life time would dream of walking into any shop in the whole complex and buying whatever they like. Your money is nothing to you, but to someone who has none, something like this…" she held up one of the old plates, "… could mean the world" she finished.

"I guess I have been a bit sheltered growing up" he said.

"I'd say so" she said.

"Well, how about we give the lot to charity then? Everything that we don't need" he suggested.

"That's a great idea, but first, we need to sort through this stuff before we drown in it" she said. "Do you have much muggle money left or is it all in Galleons still?" she asked.

He pulled out his wallet, which had been magically expanded to hold a substantial amount of cash.

"I have… five thousand pounds in muggle money" he said.

"So… roughly a thousand galleons" she said. "That will do for a while, but it will be best to change some more soon" she said.

"Can't we just shop in diagon alley?" he asked.

"I don't know if its safe there" she said.

"We could go and see? I will protect you" he said.

"I mean, I am not sure it's safe for you" she said. "I'm one of the golden trio, the fabulous Gryffindor princess" she said, dramatically flipping her hair over her shoulder. "You're the bad boy Slytherin prince who turned on his family and watched as his friend got killed then shacked up with the princess… Not sure how people are going to perceive you" she said.

He walked closer to her and grabbed her playfully around the waist.

"They don't know we've shacked up" he said, kissing her on the mouth. Hermione returned his kiss with a passionate one of her own. It was so bizarre how their snogging sessions would begin, one minute they're talking about something completely random, the next they're all over each other.

The heat was rising between them as they embraced in the kitchen. Malfoy's hands casually wandered down Hermione's lower back and beyond, but she didn't mind at all. She pressed her body against his, urgently seeking his closeness as their mouths and tongues danced their now well practiced routine. Out of nowhere, he picked her up and sat her on the bench carefully positioning himself between her legs. The contact between them never broke as they repositioned themselves in this way. Hermione could feel her heart beating incredibly fast n her chest as she ran her hands over his surprisingly muscular biceps, up his neck and into his hair. She has no idea what she was doing, allowing her body to take over purely by instinct. It was something she didn't understand and could never learn from a book, but she didn't care at all. It was the best feeling, just allowing herself to be free and explore this new relationship.

They continued this for what felt like an eternity before they stopped. It was Malfoy who broke them apart.

"Merlin Granger, what are you doing to me?" he asked.

"What am _I_ doing? You've got me in a precarious position, I don't have much opportunity to do anything" she said playfully, still sitting on the bench with him straddled between her thighs. At this, he stepped backwards, his hands in the air in a 'surrender' posture. She hopped down off the bench, kissed him once on the cheek and resumed packing away the shopping.

Owing to their very late lunch, the pair had a simple dinner and spent the night in front of the TV, watching one of the many movies they had purchased that day. As if by routine, when the movie finished, they both retreated to their own beds, which had been redressed in the brand-new covers they had bought, and lay there staring at the ceiling unable to sleep. Hermione knew that she couldn't sleep alone, but thought better than to assume she could climb into Malfoy's bed every night.

She thought about the days that had passed since escaping the cellar, and although it felt like a lifetime ago, it had only been four days since she fled Malfoy Manor. It had been the most incredibly traumatising event of her lifetime and she lay there wondering if she will, at some point, realise how incredibly lucky she is to still be alive and fall into a heaped mess. _Isn't that what people do who have been through something like that?'_ she wondered. She recalled reading muggle books about people who had been held captive in the muggle war, coming home and experiencing incredible PTSD. Was her inability to sleep alone a sign of PTSD? As she thought about this some more, she heard her door creek open.

"Are you awake?" Malfoy's voice whispered.

"Yeah"

"Can I lay with you?"

She didn't answer, instead, opened the covers for him to join her.

"I can't sleep" he said.

"Me neither" she replied as she cosied up to his warm body.

As they both lay there in silence, Hermione thought about how much better she felt just having him beside her.

"Surely this isn't healthy" she said softly.

"What isn't?"

"Us… sleeping together like this"

"Do you want me to leave?"

"No! No way" she said a little too loudly. "I was just thinking about how little time has passed and how much has changed" she said.

"It feels like we've been this way forever, but at the same time, it feels like _you know who_ was causing havoc just yesterday" he said.

"Its so surreal, like none of it ever happened. We're just here, in our own little world, away from everything and everyone"

"Did you want to be around other people?" he asked.

"I don't think I do. I'm happy remaining oblivious to everyone else pain" she said. "It sounds selfish, Merlin, its selfish"

"Sometimes you need to be selfish. How many times have you done something because you wanted to?"

"Never"

"Exactly. You need this time to do the things that you need to do for yourself" he said.

"You're probably right" she said.

It didn't take long before their breathing began to change and they both drifted off into a deep sleep.

The rest of the week went by in much the same way. The couple found ways to occupy their days. They visited mostly muggle places in hopes they could avoid facing the wizarding reality for little while longer. Hermione read to herself in the sun of the back garden while Malfoy listened to the wireless and tinkered with muggle contraptions. If Hermione didn't now any better, she would swear he was becoming like Mr Weasley.

It had now been 8 days since the battle. The couple had eventually stopped pretending like they weren't going to share a bed and went to bed together each night. They had not taken their relationship further, physically, nor had Hermione expressed any change in her feelings towards him – not that she didn't feel it, she just hadn't thought it was never the right moment to come out and say _guess what I'm in love with you too_. They were happily living together in their little bubble, far away from the interference of anyone.

"What would you like to do for tea?" she asked him, just as the sun was beginning to set.

"Hmm, not too sure. We have left overs, don't we?"

"I think so, but I guess I was thinking we could go somewhere?" she said tentatively.

"Well, we did buy those fancy clothes, we could go someplace nice" he said, strutting over to where she stood.

"Are you strutting?" she asked him in mock disapproval.

"Me? Of course not, I do not _strut"_ he said.

"Oh, yes you do. You strut so much you don't even realise" she said.

"Hmm, maybe I do. But you've certainly seemed to notice, so maybe it works" he said.

"Works how? What exactly would the aim be?"

"To get your attention" he said.

"Well, you absolutely do not have any of my attention" she said, eyeing him as though realising exactly the opposite of what she was saying. In fact, the way he was carrying himself at this moment, all his angst was gone, he was exuding self confidence that wasn't arrogant, she found him to be sexy as hell.

"I don't believe you" he said quietly, his tone almost daring her to reveal herself.

Without hesitating, Hermione closed the gap that was between the pair and began kissing him. She kissed him as she hadn't kissed him before, releasing the pent-up desire that she hadn't been aware she was holding in. This last week, sleeping beside him night after night, she had been so careful not to let herself get carried away, but now, here he was, in front of her, sexy as hell and she wanted him. She wanted him in a way that she hadn't allowed herself to want anyone before. In a way it was frightening, but at the same time, liberating.

"OK" she said, tearing herself away. "I'm going to take a shower and get ready, you think of what you want to eat" she said, still breathless.

"You're maddening, woman" he said, adjusting his pants somewhat discreetly as she walked up the stairs.

She showered quickly, planning what she might do to let him know she wanted him in _that_ way, almost coming up with a step by step plan by time she was dressed and ready to go. She stood in the kitchen in the full length dark green dress that Malfoy had chosen from her cupboard while she was in the shower. 'T _ypical'_ she thought, looking down at the colour. She wondered if he had chosen it because it was Slytherin green. She shrugged it off, knowing that it didn't really matter because the colour suited her and they would be in a muggle community anyway, so no one would think she had betrayed Gryffindor.

When Malfoy arrived in the living room, she was gobsmacked by his appearance. He was wearing a perfectly tailored suit with a tie that matched her dress. The suit wasn't fully black like the one he used to wear, but black with a white shirt, black vest and a nice jacket.

"Are you going to stare at me all night Granger or are we going to leave?" he asked.

"What? No, I wasn't staring at all" she said.

"Well, you must forgive me if I stare because you look stunning" he said.

"Thank you" she answered, turning a shade of red. She wasn't used to compliments on her appearance, however, she had recently realised that as she was growing up, she had lost most of her awkward youthful odd-ness and it had been replaced by a womanly shaped body, clear skin, hair that fell in all the right places and teeth that now fit perfectly with her face.

They held hands and kissed briefly as they apparated to the alley of a nearby town. They had come across this place in the last few days while exploring the muggle area and had noticed it had a lot of nice restaurants. As they walked the short distance up the street, Malfoy whispered to her;

"I feel like I'm going to struggle to keep my hands off you tonight".

"I feel like that might be a good thing" she said back.

They entered the restaurant and were seated in a private booth.

"Did you arrange this?" she asked, looking around at the rest of the patrons who were sitting at regular tables.

"Aren't you the one who once said _money talks_?" he asked.

"You don't need to keep throwing your money around to impress me. I'm impressed already" she said.

"Impressed hey?" he asked.

"Of course I am" she said. "How could I not be? We've had the most amazing week, but you're spoiling me too much"

"I want to Granger. Just let me spoil you the way I want to, the way I know how. The only way I can" he begged.

"I'd love to, but I can't ever do the same for you" she said, finally getting out the thing that had been bugging her for days.

"You don't understand how little value I place on money. It's a tool for me and I have virtually an endless supply of it" he said.

"I wouldn't go that far" she said.

"I would. You don't realise how wealthy my family is. With just my trust fund money alone, we could both live very very comfortably for the rest of our lives and have enough for our children and their children and their children to live comfortably too" he said. "But of course, now that my father is gone, I inherit the lot" he said.

"What about your mum" Hermione asked.

"She has her own family money. Besides, it is written that ' _the male heir inherits the family fortune in the event of his father's death and as the man of the family, decides if he shall support his mother financially'_. It's a load of garbage, but it's been my family's tradition since forever" He said.

"I can't believe families just toss the widows to the curb" she said.

"They're of no use anymore. That's the way they see it. Once there is a son who is of age, he is the one who controls the lot… He's the man of the house, the leader of the family. Luck me hey" he said.

"So, if we get married and have children and something happens to you, I'd be what, homeless? Penniless after raising your children?" she asked. "In the muggle world, the woman is entitled to more than half of the assets in a spit and gets the lot if he husband dies" Hermione said.

"I'd just change the rules. Its easily done" he said in an offhand manner.

"Its all just some old-fashioned rule?" she said.

"It was to stop women marrying for money then killing their husbands. Keeping the money in the Malfoy family name" he said.

"It makes sense for those times, but in this modern day… who would marry for money?" she asked.

"Pansy Parkinson?" he asked.

"No way, she was genuinely head over heels completely crazy for you" Hermione said.

"Well, you got the crazy part right at least" he said. "Enough about that, what will we order?" he asked.

Hermione read over her menu carefully, choosing a salmon with a nice sounding salad, while Malfoy chose a steak.

They continued their discussion over drinks, while waiting for their meal to arrive.

"So, you've thought about how you want to spend the rest of your life then?" she asked, picking up on his earlier mention of them living comfortable for the rest of their lives.

"Of course I have. Haven't you?" he asked.

"Well, not really. I didn't expect to live beyond the war" she said.

"That's ridiculous" he said.

"Its not. I'm a muggle born…" she said quietly, "I was one of the most highly wanted people in all of the wizarding world. I was lucky to even have survived second year". She said.

"I hate that you had to go through all of that" he said, quietly.

"Well, its all over now, isn't it? Nothing to worry about" she said, shrugging her shoulders.

"So, what of your future then?" he asked.

"Well, for the immediate future, I need to find my parents, maybe take up those summer classes that were offered so I can get my NEWTS. I desperately need to get a job" she said.

"So, when do you think you'll get started with all of that?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. I feel like the longer I leave it, the harder it will become. It's already been almost a year. Who knows if I'll even be ale to get their memories back. And who knows if they'll want to come home when they realise what I've done to them" she said, tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

"Of course you can get their memories back, you're the _brightest witch of our age,_ remember? And they're your parents, they might be angry, but from what you've said, it sounds like they love you. They'll understand" he said.

In that moment, Hermione was so captivated by how much he cared about her. He had told her that he loved her, but now, on this night, not only with his words but by his actions and his manner, he was really showing her how much he cared. Hermione felt it was time to tell him how she felt, to let him know that she actually felt the same. She wanted to tell him that she wanted to be with him all the time, she wanted him to come with her to Australia, she wanted to be with him, in all the ways she possibly could. She wanted to tell him that she was in love with him, but as she opened her mouth to do so, their meals arrived. She knew now that she was in love with Draco Malfoy and all romantic thoughts of Ron Weasley were left in the past.

Surrounded by the invisible cloud of a warming charm, the pair took a walk along the river before heading home. Hand in hand they walked, slowly, as they were still trying to digest their delicious meals.

"That meal was incredible, but I am so full" she said.

"I don't think I've ever had a steak that amazing" he said.

She still hadn't had the opportunity to tell him how she felt, and she figured now, surrounded by the water and hand in hand with the man of her dreams, was the best moment. She led the pair to a small pier that overlooked the water and stood by the railing. The location was amazing and she made a mental note to remember this place.

"I have to tell you something" she said, as they sat.

"Should I be worried?" he asked, frowning in the light of the moon.

"No, absolutely not" she said with a smile as she kissed his lips softly.

Malfoy took this as an opportunity to kiss her back with more intensity than what she had kissed him with. Before she knew it, his hands were on her body and his lips on her neck. She closed her eyes and relished the sensation before a boat's horn brought her back to reality.

"I'm not going to be able to say what I needed to tell you if you keep doing that" she said.

"Ok, I'm sorry, I'll stop" he said as he leant away from her.

"Well you can proceed later, perhaps when we're in a more private setting" she said, looking around at the people walking by, just up the path, some of whom were looking at the pair in distaste.

"Let them stare. They're probably jealous because you're so damn sexy and I'm the luckiest guy in the world right now" he said.

"Oh, you're so smooth" she said, nudging him with her shoulder.

"Alright, I'll stop. So out with it, what do you need to tell me" he said.

"I want you to come to Australia with me" she said.

"Ok…" he said, a confused look on his face.

"That's not what I wanted to say" she said.

"You're concerning me Granger" he said.

"I'm sorry. This is harder than I thought it would be" she said, feeling nervous.

Malfoy took her hands in his and kissed them gently.

"Whatever it is, it will be ok, I promise" he said.

"I am in love with you" she blurted out. "Merlin, I'm sorry, that came out far better in my head" she added.

"I love you too" he said, smiling as though he had just won the lottery.

"It's so surreal to me, I've never felt like this before. I can't think about a life where I am not around you. Where we don't lay side by side each night, where I can't kiss you and hold you. I _have_ thought about my future and no matter what, it always includes you" she said.

"I feel the same, I am crazy about you" he said, brushing his fingers gently down her cheek, his thumb carefully tracing her lower lip. He lent forward and kissed her, holding her waist and pulling her closer to his body. He kissed her, gently, lovingly, the way someone kissed someone they loved deeply, and she kissed him the same in return. The passion was there, but it was different. The kiss wasn't desperate or primal, it was intentional and heartfelt. In that moment, she knew she had made the right choice. In that moment, she wanted to be with him more than she had wanted anything before.

"Draco, I want to make love with you tonight" she said, trembling with fear at uttering those words.

"If you're sure" he said, looking deep into her eyes.

"I'm sure" she said, kissing him again. "I'm petrified, but I'm sure" she said.

"Come on, I'll take you home" he said taking her by the hand and leading her to a secluded spot to disapparate.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN- The following chapter contains adult scenes. Reader discretion is advised. If you don't want to read it, or don't think you ought to be reading it, or are under 15/16/17ish, or don't particularly like descriptive cringey scenes, scroll down to to the line.**

Hermione's heart was racing as they arrived back at the cottage. She had just told Malfoy that she wanted to make love with him and his first reaction was to take them home. She wasn't sure what she expected, but she was hoping for some kind of lead up to the actual event. With a wave of his wand, Malfoy turned on the wireless and a slow song played.

"Dance with me?" he asked her as he removed his jacket, tie and vest, laying them over the back of the armchair.

Without speaking, she nodded and took his hand. Hermione rested her head on his chest and listened to Malfoy's racing heart, matching her own. She realised that he might have been as nervous as she was. It was a comfort to know. She expertly removed her shawl while still dancing, revealing her bare shoulders and back. Malfoy's hands left her waist and travelled up to her smooth skin and caressed her softly. She was all sensation and ready to let him take control of her entire body, but she held onto some of her senses as she leant up and kissed him. Unable to continue this intense assault on her senses, she took him by the hand and led him up the stairs towards the bedroom that they had been sharing. She was shaking with nerves, excitement, cold? She wasn't sure. The pair of them stood at the end of the bed and Hermione unsure of what to do in that moment. She was hoping to get this over and done with but at the same time, wanted to take it slow so she could experience all that she could. Malfoy placed his hands on her bare upper arms and slowly trailed his fingers down to her wrists. He took her hands placing them on his shirt buttons and she took this as an invitation to undo them, one by one. As she did so, he reached around the back of her dress and carefully lowered the zipper. Hermione felt like she was in a movie, the way everything happened meticulously, slowly, purposefully. She finished with the final button before pushing his shirt off his shoulders and removing it from his arms. At the same time, her dress pooled at her feet. Malfoy took a moment to look at the sight before him before kissing her.

"You're so beautiful" he said, kissing her neck and allowing his hands to freely roam across her almost bare back.

Hermione stood in her bra and underpants, while Malfoy continued kissing her. She carefully slipped her shoes off as Malfoy undid his pants. Pretty soon, they were both in their underwear and Hermione was in no doubt that this was happening.

He took her hand and helped her onto the bed, laying down beside her.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You can say no whenever and we'll stop" he said, reassuring her, reminding her how much he loved her.

"I want to make love to you Draco" she said, her voice trembling with fear and anxiety, but at the same time, confident in her answer.

At these words, he resumed kissing her, his hands travelling up her body and expertly reaching behind her to undo her bra. She pushed aside the wonder at his skill and allowed herself to let go completely, surrendering to what was about to happen.

He kissed her neck then trailed kissed down her throat, beyond the space that had previously been unexplored and over the soft mounds of flesh that had never been touched another person. As his tongue gently licked at her nipple, she felt her body come alive, letting go a small moan of pleasure at the strange new sensation. His hands gently caressed her breasts as he continued to lick, kiss and suck. Hermione was lost to what was happening as Malfoy's hand made its way down and into the top of her underwear. She lifted herself up as he carefully removed them, rendering her completely naked. He was now kissing her lips and he neck as he parted her legs. His hand ran from her knee up her thigh and to the eventual target.

He carefully slid one finger up and down her slit, testing her, touching her. When his finger touched her clit, Hermione's whole body jolted. She had never felt something like that before, had never touched herself in this way and was surprised by the sensation. Her abdomen was on fire, warmth spreading around her body seeming like it was radiating from the place Malfoy was now gently, purposefully, accurately and expertly playing with. She fingers clawed at the bed sheets and her breathing accelerated as he continued his assault on her senses. She allowed herself to release a moan of pleasure and the warmth that had built centred itself right where his finger was moving and she experienced her first ever orgasm.

Malfoy didn't stop once she orgasmed, but moved his finger down and carefully eased one inside her. Still reeling from the orgasm, she relished the feelings, embraced it as though it were an itch that needed to be scratched. She moaned again with delight as he eased his finger in and out. He inserted another finger as he kissed her, allowing her to be comfortable with this new sensation. She was completely lost to the feelings she was experiencing and wanted nothing more than to have him make love to her right now. He was building speed now, easing in and out, rubbing her clit then easing back in with two fingers.

"Please make love to me Draco" she said in between moans.

He didn't need to be told twice, removing his boxer shorts in one swift moment. Hermione caught sight of his raging erection and a slight moment of panic took hold when she realised how much bigger he was that his fingers. He was on top of her, still pleasuring her with his fingers, forcing any panic to be gone from her mind. He had pleasured her so much she wanted him to feel it too. She wanted nothing more than to experience the feel of him inside her, to feel him come apart the way she had just done. She wrapped her legs around him as she prepared herself to lose her virginity.

He positioned the tip of his erection at her entrance and ever so gently pushed inside her just a fraction. The feeling was intense, she knew it would be painful, she had heard about it from girls at Hogwarts in the bathrooms when they had talked about it, but this was not something she was prepared for.

"Is this ok? Are you ok?" he asked, concern on his face.

"Yeah, this is good, just go slow" she said, hoping that the pain would subside.

Carefully and ever so slowly, he guided himself into her further, stretching her, filling her. She felt every part of him enter her and the pain of it was soon overcome by the intensity of the emotions that she was currently feeling. He kissed her some more and slowly eased further into her until she felt his body flush against hers.

"Is this ok?" he asked.

"mm hmm" she said, trying to get used to the feeling of fullness.

"I'm sorry its painful" he said.

"Its ok Draco, I'm ok" she said. "I love you, just make love to me, slowly" she said.

At this, he kissed her and she felt all of his emotions pour into her. She felt his love, his kindness, his caring nature. She was his and he was hers.

He began to move, slowly, never removing himself completely, but easing back gradually before pressing his body flush against hers again.

As he continued to move, he reached down with his hand between their bodies and gently stroked her clit once more. The instant pleasure overcame and pain she was feeling and she allowed herself to let go and really focus on the emotions associated with what they were doing.

With his fingers stroking her clit, she began to move her body. The pain was no longer existent and she could feel the building sensation inside her, the same as before. Malfoy withdrew his hand and kissed her clumsily on the lips as he built in speed. She could tell he was feeling the same as she was and she moved her body to match his. As the warmth in her body centred in her lower regions once again, she called his name as she came undone in an orgasm that was far more intense than the first. Her field of view was filled with stars and her sense of time and place was gone. She vaguely felt him jolt and with a moan of his own, he all but collapsed on top of her. Slowly their breathing slowed and they were back in the present.

Hermione winced as he eased himself out of her and lay beside her.

"That was…" she began. She had no words to describe how amazing that was. Instead of finishing the sentence, she kissed him.

"I love you so much" he said. She sensed his vulnerability in the way he looked into her eyes as he said it.

"I love you too, I don't know what I would do without you" she said. It was true. She had no idea what would have become of her if he hadn't been the one to bring her food in the cellar. What would have happened to her if he had been at school when she was taken? Would she have been taken directly to the ministry of magic and have been give the dementors kiss?

"You saved me too" he said. "Without you, I would never have been able to leave. I would have been stuck there, forced to carry out tasks that I no longer believed in" he said.

"I guess we saved each other" she said, kissing him gently before pulling the covers up over them both.

* * *

The next morning, Hermione woke, as usual with the sun streaming in. Malfoy was nowhere to be seen and she was still completely naked. She got up and grabbed a dressing gown before heading downstairs. There was a beautiful smell of bacon and eggs coming from the kitchen and she was drawn to it immediately.

"Morning" she said brightly as she came up behind him, wrapping her arms around him from behind. He turned around without having her let go and they were face to face.

"I was making you breakfast in bed" he said.

"Well, I'm up now so it can be breakfast in the kitchen" she said, standing on her tip toes to kiss him.

"How did you sleep?" he asked.

"Like a broomstick" she said.

"A broomstick?" he asked.

"Well, I was going to say like a log, but figured broomstick is the same thing" she said.

"So, you slept well?" he asked.

"Exceptionally" she said as she turned to get some plates.

"Hmm, me too" he said, finishing up cooking the breakfast.

Hermione found it odd that the pair didn't talk about the previous night at all throughout breakfast or even into the morning. They had showered separately, dressed separately and went about their day as usual. For Hermione, she wasn't sure exactly how things would change, but she was certain that they must. They didn't just sleep together and then life goes on as normal. Things were different now. _She_ was different now. She wasn't sure how, but she felt different. Perhaps more of a woman than before? More primal or instinctual? She had no regrets whatsoever about the previous night and whenever she thought about it, she smiled to herself. It was the perfect night. Malfoy was the perfect gentleman and everything was perfect… Except the fact that they didn't talk about it. After lunch time, when they were both laying outside in the sunshine, she thought she would broach the subject.

"So last night…" she said.

"Last night…" he repeated.

"Should we talk about it?" she asked.

"Do we need to? I mean, it was incredible, but what is there to talk about?" he asked.

Hermione wasn't sure why, but this threw her. She was put off by the way he brushed off her need to discuss it.

"I don't know, it's a big deal for us, well, for me at least. I just don't want it to be forgotten about or swept under the rug, or hidden like some dirty secret. I also don't want to be _that_ couple who has sex all the time and never does anything else. You know, now that we've done it once…" she said.

"Well, it was a big deal for me Granger, believe it or not, I've never actually done that with someone I cared about. It will never be forgotten or hidden or _ever_ be thought of as a dirty little secret. I want everyone to know how much I love you, how much I loved that we were able to express our love physically…" he said.

Hermione felt incredibly guilty for being upset that he hadn't brought it up with her.

"I'm sorry, I just… this is all new to me. I guess its new to both of us. Where do we go from here?" she asked.

"Why does anything have to change? Can we not just go on as usual and if it happens again it happens again?" he said.

"You're right. You're so right. I'm being ridiculous. I just always feel like I need to have a plan or something. Silly really, when I currently have zero plans for my life. When it happens again it happens again and that's ok by me" she said, feeling stupid.

The couple returned to their reading in the sun until late into the afternoon. For Hermione, it was like they were kindred spirits, they had the same interest, the same passions and the same ideas.

That night as the pair set about making their evening meal, they engaged in some playful flirtatious banter between themselves that resulted in a steamy snogging session on the kitchen bench. If Hermione wasn't still sore from the night before, she may have requested they take it to the bedroom, however, she knew it was too soon.

As things were heating up even more, out of nowhere, the wireless came on. They both jumped and pulled apart as the sound startled them. They were so used to being the only sounds in the house that any sudden foreign sound was completely unexpected.

" _Once again folks, that news coming in just now, is that Hermione Granger, one third of the golden trio is now officially a missing person. If you have seen her or heard from her, please contact the new minister of magic, Kinglsey Shacklebolt. Also, Hermione, if you're out there, please, let someone know. We'll repeat the top breaking stories in a moment..."_ the voice ended and a song by the weird sisters came on.

Hermione stood there stunned.

"What the hell was that about?" Malfoy said eventually.

"I… I have no idea. Why would they list me as a missing person? It makes no sense" she said.

" _Hi Folks, it's me again, your regular reporter, coming back to you with a recap of todays breaking stories. Death eater trials have begun this morning and we're all horror struck to hear the stories they are telling in order to avoid the dementors kiss. One such confessor is Narcissa Malfoy, mother to Draco Malfoy, who is also missing, presumed as Hermione Grangers kidnapper…"_

Malfoy's face was burning with rage at this comment.

"… _also widow to Lucius Malfoy, renowned death eater, murderer, conspirator, the list goes on folks, lucky for us he was killed in the battle. Mrs Malfoy has given in depth information relating to the goings on in Malfoy Manor during You-Know-Who's reign of terror and is claiming that Hermione Granger was held captive for two months and her SON was tasked with gaining our Gryffindor princesses trust in order to kill her at a later date. She tells us that Hermione's escape with Draco was a planned move by the death eaters and that she is still in danger as long as she is with Draco Malfoy. Now we've spoken to those closest to Hermione and none other than the Ron Weasley has given us a statement today… Here's what he said earlier…"_

"This ought to be good" said Malfoy.

" _… Yeah I spoke a lot with Hermione after the battle and she was really keen to come back to my family's place with me. We had been in a relationship before the war broke out and we were both excited to pick up where we left off. Everyone here is really worried about her. We've looked everywhere. Its like before, when she was snatched. She's just disappeared…."_

 _"When asked about his thoughts on Draco Malfoy, Mr Weasley has this to say…" said the announcers voice._

 _"He's tortured Hermione since our first year. I don't doubt that he has her somewhere where no one can find her and Merlin knows what he's done with her. I only hope we can find her, or at least find traces of her somewhere. We all just want her to come home_ " came Ron's voice.

"Pathetic jealous git!" yelled Hermione.

" _So folks, top story of the day is one of a missing Hermione Granger, assumed to have succumbed to a horrific fate at the hands of Draco Malfoy, confirmed death eater. If anyone has seen our young heroine, please tap the wireless with your wand and use the password_ granger _to get in touch_ ".

"Are you going to contact them?" Malfoy asked when there was a long silence between them.

"No way, I'm going to go to the Burrow and give Ron Weasley a piece of my mind" she said.

"Is that wise?" Malfoy asked as another song played over the wireless.

"I don't know, but this mess has to be cleared up, now" she said angrily. "They think you've killed me or are keeping me against my will! Uhhh! I'm so mad!" she said.

"Come on, we'll finish eating and then we'll go together" he said.

"You'll come with me?" she asked.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight" he said.

"What if they try and arrest you?" she asked.

"I'm innocent, even if they arrest me, they'll soon figure out that you've been here by your own will" Malfoy said.

"Of course... they have to. But I don't want you spending any time in Azkaban. I couldn't imagine it" she said, almost sobbing.

"it'll be ok, I promise" he said.

"Don't you dare make me a promise you don't know you can keep" she said.

"I will keep this promise. Everything will be ok" he said.

"I'm not hungry anymore, lets just go" she said, leaving the kitchen.

Within ten minutes, the two lovers were standing in front of a gate that lead to a familiar path and in the distance, stood a house that seemed as if it may fall at any moment.

 **AN- Feeling the cringe factor from that intense scene. If you have an issue with it, please PM/DM/IM/inbox (whatever the kids are calling it now) me. Once again, grammar punctuation and spelling are not a given, as I am more interested in getting this out than making it perfect.**


	12. Chapter 12

Hermione walked up the path of the burrow, hand in hand with the man she loved. She never thought in a million years that she would bring him here and she knew that it would not go down well with the Weasleys, especially Ron.

As she approached the front door, she heard the familiar count of many voices coming from inside. She knocked on the door and stepped back, waiting.

Mrs Weasley's face appeared in the doorway as the door opened and while she was immediately met with the familiar motherly smile, that changed when she noticed Malfoy behind her.

"Hello Mrs Weasley, I was wondering if I might have a moment to speak with Ron?" Hermione said, formally.

"Hermione, I'm so glad to see you. And I see you've brought a friend" Mrs Weasley said loudly, almost too loudly.

"Is that Hermione?" called a female voice.

"Yes, Ginny dear, it is" Mrs Weasley said back.

"Let me through, let me out, I want to see her. Ron! Harry! Hermione is here!" shouted Ginny.

"Ginny, dear, Hermione has brought a friend" Mrs Weasley said.

"I don't care mum, honestly" said Ginny.

Soon enough, Ginny had pushed her way outside and into the arms of Hermione.

"Merlin Hermione, we thought you were dead" Ginny said, releasing her friend. "What are _you_ doing here?" she asked when she saw Malfoy.

"I think I need to tell everyone together" Hermione said, before Malfoy could answer.

"Come on in dear. Bring your friend I suppose" Mrs Weasley said.

Hermione entered the small house, still hand in hand with Malfoy. She halted when she saw that all of the Weasleys were gathered in the living room.

"This is convenient" Malfoy whispered so only Hermione could hear.

When Harry had hugged her and taken a seat beside Ginny, Hermione waited for the room to quieten, before speaking.

"I heard the announcement on the wireless tonight" she began, avoiding looking at for fear that she may hex him. "None of that garbage was true. I am not missing, nor am I dead. I am not in any danger and have not been imperiorised or confounded. I have been staying with Maf… Draco… since leaving the battle. He has a safe house and offered me a room…"

"Yeah _his_ room I bet" Ron said under his breath. Hermione still didn't look in his direction and she held onto Malfoy tighter when she realised he had heard it too.

"We have been attempting to recover from everything that we have seen and done, leaning on each other for emotional support and allowing ourselves the opportunity to heal from all of this. I have not been in hiding, in fact, we have spent almost every day in muggle London" she said.

The room was silent, so Hermione went on.

"I thought about you all every day, but after the experience I had, I just needed time to centre myself. I have lost so much in the last 12 months, my family, my freedom, friends… I don't expect that my experience compares to what you're all going through at the moment…" she looked briefly towards George as she went on, "…but I really had to be selfish for the first time in my life, for my own sanity" she said.

She thought she saw the smallest of nods from George, but she could have imagined it. There was yet more silence, so on she went.

"Draco did not have a plan to have me killed. He was tasked to bring me food while I was held captive for two months in his family's cellar. We began talking and soon built trust between us. Draco confided in me that he was unable to leave due to Voldemort's hold on his family. We came up with a plan for us both to leave and that's what we did. We heard of Harry being at Hogwarts the next day and that's where we saw everyone. Following the battle and the clean-up, Ron offered for me to come here, which I declined out of respect for your family's need to grieve. Ron and I discussed our friendship earlier that day and agreed that there was nothing romantic between us… Not that its really necessary to tell you all, but from what Ron said in that interview…" she now looked directly at Ron, shooting daggers in his direction before continuing, looking around the room at the faces of the Weasleys, minus Fred, and Harry. "…I thought it was necessary to clear it up. I had intended to go directly to Australia to find my parents, however Draco helped me understand that I needed time to heal from what happened to me… I am sorry that I have not made contact, but I really did need this time to recover" she finished.

"How do you know he's telling the truth?" asked Ron.

"Because I am!" shouted Malfoy.

"Its ok…" soothed Hermione, to Malfoy. "Because, Ronald, I trust him! He lost his family in the battle as well. His father is dead, his mother is betraying him, everyone and everything he's ever known is either gone or a lie. We'll both swear an oath under veriteserum if you want us to. We're telling the truth" she said.

"Forgive us all, dear, it is rather difficult to comprehend. After all, this boy spent a lot of time saying horrible things about you" said Mrs Weasley.

"I completely understand that you'd be confused. I was at first and I guess still am at times. This person was our mortal enemy not six months ago and now he's my partner. All I can say to that is that people change. He isn't the same person he was back then, he sees how wrong his beliefs used to be and he's making amends for it now. He fought for us in the battle, he saved my life and the lives of people we care about, more than once. He helped to kill people he used to consider his best friends in the fiendfire because they turned on his and tried to kill us. I think he's proven himself" said Hermione.

At this, Bill and Charlie Weasley stood and walked to where Hermione and Malfoy stood. One by one, the two brothers hugged Hermione, then shook hands with Malfoy.

"You shouldn't have to explain yourself to anybody again Hermione. Ron… you're a git!" said Bill.

"Now I'm sorry, but we really need to be in touch with Kinglsey" said Hermione as she turned to leave.

"Will you come back tomorrow?" came Georges voice, which had been silent until now.

"Tomorrow?" she asked.

"Fred's… you know…" he said sadly. "That's why the whole family is here" he added.

She let go of Malfoy's hand and crossed the room to hug George. "Of course I will come George. I wouldn't miss it" she said. "I'm so sorry I haven't been here, I can't imagine how hard its been for you" she said.

"You know me, I'm ok" he said putting on a pretend smile. She saw both George and Fred in his smile and wondered how difficult it must be for the family to see Fred in George's face every day.

When she turned to go back to where she left Malfoy standing, he saw that Harry was standing beside him and the two were deep in conversation.

"What are you talking about over here?" she asked.

"My mother tried to throw me under the bus. Potter was just telling me that he's on the committee for the trials. It wont end well for her because she's lied" Malfoy said.

"I'm so sorry" Hermione said, patting his chest as she leant her head on his bicep.

"You two really are the real deal, aren't you?" Harry asked, noticing their affection.

"We really do love each other Harry" she said.

"Well, I'm happy for you, as long as you're happy" Harry said.

"Thanks Potter" Malfoy said, extending his hand which Harry shook.

Ron still sat in the corner where he had remained throughout the whole discussion. Hermione contemplated going to him to straighten things out but she thought it would be best to leave it for now.

The duo walked down the garden path and exited though the gate, arm in arm, ready to disapparate.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, like pulling teeth" he said before they turned on the spot and disapprated to the Ministry of Magic.

….

Malfoy and Hermione arrived home to their cottage later that night after clearing things up at the ministry of magic. The announcement that Hermione had been missing was completely falsified but Ron. While there had been some slight speculation that she might have been missing, there was never an official report.

This has infuriated Hermione, who couldn't understand why Ron was behaving this way. As far as she was concerned, he knew where she was, knew that they wouldn't be together and knew that she was going to give it a go with Malfoy. The only reason he had to lie like this was because he was jealous. Well, too bad, she thought, any ideas that she had of being with him were long gone, replaced by anger and hurt. She had to allow herself to swallow her anger, however, because the next time she would see Ron would be at his brothers funeral and Hermione wasn't going to cause a scene in front of everyone.

During their time at the ministry, while talking to Kinglsey, both Hermione and Malfoy were asked if they were going to put their names down for training for various positions throughout the ministry that had become available. Kingsley had told them that once they had completed a summer session at Hogwarts, they would be eligible and highly sought after throughout the ministry, giving them a guaranteed immediate entry into whichever job they chose. This idea had become a topic of contention later on that evening.

"I just don't see why you feel like you need to rush out so quickly and get a job" Malfoy said.

"Because that is what you do. You go to school, you do some training, you get a job and start paying your way through life" she said, annoyed.

"I told you I will take care of you" he said.

"I know you did, but I'm not going to be some slacker. I want to work" she said.

"So I'm a slacker if I don't want to work?" he asked, tension rising.

"Well… yes. You're smart enough to do anything, but you're choosing to just do nothing and live off your parents' money" she said.

"So what? If I can then why shouldn't I?" he asked.

"Because you can't just be a nobody. You need to do something with your life, not just be a _Malfoy_ who went to Hogwarts just for the sake of it and left to live a life of emptiness. You need to have some training, get a job… _Be_ somebody. You need to put your mark on the world and do something that matters. It's just what you do" she said, heatedly.

"No… It's what _you_ do" he said. "I've been brought up with an understanding that my life will go a certain way. Sure, eventually I'll get a job and be someone important, but for the foreseeable future, I don't believe in having a job until I need one. And I'm not giving that up" he said.

At this, Hermione saw red. He had slapped her in the face with his _Malfoy ways_ her whole life and now he was going to use it to justify himself in an argument? She wanted to slap him but felt that it wasn't going to solve anything. Instead, in the moment, she resorted to petty words that she knew would hurt him.

"If you're going to stick by your upbringing, _MALFOY_ , then this filthy little _mudblood_ is going upstairs for a shower. How about you go spend all your free time at your Manor with all your money and call all your death eater friends to help you find a way to bring back your precious little dark lord?!" she spat, turning to leave the room without looking at him.

As she entered the bathroom upstairs a minute later, she instantly regretted what she said. She took a long time in the shower, cursing herself for being so callous. She knew he had renounced all of that. The things he had called her in the past, the things he had seen, done or been a part of… That wasn't him and she knew it. She didn't understand why she was now picking fights with him over this… something that wasn't even an issue.

She dressed in her room and climbed into the bed she hadn't slept in in a week. She thought about the horrible things she had said to him and began to cry. If she really thought about it, it was all her own insecurities and fears that had led to their argument. Her own worries about not having a secure future, about now living up to the expectations people had placed on her throughout her whole life, about proving to the wizarding world that she, a muggle born is worthy of this gift of magic she had been given. She also was petrified that a deep dark place in the back of her mind thought that this could all be a lie, that maybe he never really renounced all those things and he is truly only with her to hurt her. She pushed that fear aside, worrying about how people perceived her.

This relationship with her ex-enemy was something that had thrown people completely. It was so far beyond what anybody expected of her that it was almost life altering. No longer was she Hermione Granger, studious Gryffindor princess part of the Golden Trio, now she was just Hermione Granger, the girl who ran off with the guy who used to be hideously mean to her and her friends. If she really thought about it, the desire for her to _be_ something, was to make a name for herself. One that wasn't associated with Hogwarts or Harry or killing Voldemort or shacking up with Malfoy. She _had_ to be somebody on her own. And if she was going to make a real go of things with Malfoy, for the long term, she felt like _he_ had to be someone too. He had to rid himself of the underlying association that has followed the Malfoy name for centuries and be someone _meaningful,_ someone _good_.Someone she knew him to be worthy of being.

She laid there wondering how she might get this across to him while she listened to the sounds in the house of him showering and going to his own bedroom. She wished more than anything that they hadn't exchanged those words, but at the same time, he had purposely thrown his family traditions in her face. What other traditions was he still holding on to? She wondered.

She waited till all was silent in the house before sneaking out of her bed and across the hall. She had to be the one to fix this. She opened his door a fraction and saw that he was lying in bed with his back to the door, facing the window. She crept in beside him and hopped under the blankets, her front to his back. She inhaled the scent of him and withheld silent tears. She had to make it right, there was no way she could be without this man in her life. Not now. Now after everything.

"I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean any of it" she whispered, knowing he wasn't asleep.

Her words were met with silence and she assumed he was pretending to be asleep. She had plenty of experience fighting with him in the past, before they really knew each other, before they really knew _themselves,_ but never had she felt so desperately devastated at the thought of losing him.

"I don't know what came over me, I was so stupid to say those things. I didn't mean any of it, it was all just my stupid insecurities getting the better of me. I am terrified of losing you Draco, please talk to me" she said quietly, tears now spilling from her eyes.

Still, her words were met with silence. Was he that angry at her that he wouldn't even acknowledge her presence let alone her words?

"Well, I suppose I'll go to bed then… I love you Draco, please forgive me" she said, as she got out of the covers and off the bed. She hesitated for a moment by the bedside, hoping that he would say something, roll over and look at her or the least acknowledge that he heard her, but he did none of those things.

Hermione went back to her room and got under the covers of her bed where she cried and cried herself to sleep. She thought, at first that she was crying about the idea of losing Malfoy, about being all alone in this world and having neither a home nor a person to come home to at the end of the day, but it was more than that. She was crying for the loss of herself. The loss of who she was. She no longer wanted to be the nerdy little girl from Hogwarts, but at the same time, she missed who she was then. She missed the carefree days of school, even though it was never truly very carefree, she longed for the times when her days were planned out and her life was structured.

As she slept, she dreamt of the castle, of what may be in the future. She dreamt of what her life might look like if she were married to Malfoy and lived _his_ kind of life. A rich married woman with one child, perhaps two. Sleek, perfect hair, always appropriately dressed and behaving as one should when they're of high importance. It was not a dream she would usually have enjoyed, yet her dream self was quite happy. She had no idea what her dream self did for a living, but she had Malfoy by her side and a roof over the heads of her family. There was not much more that she might have asked for in the vague moments of the life she observed.

There were, however, far more pressing things that were plaguing her dreams, as usual when she slept alone.

She dreamt of the people she had lost, Lupin, Tonks, Colin Creevy, even Lavender. She relived their deaths in her dreams as though she were there, watching it happen, and every time she relived it, there was nothing she could do to save them. She was rooted to the spot, stuck watching as they each took their last breath on this earth.

She hadn't allowed herself to go there much, but she even dreamt of Fred, remembering a time when she and him had shared a moment a couple of years back. It was not one that either of them had told anyone about, she doubted he even told George. It happened before the beginning of 6th year at the Burrow. Fred was pacing, all by himself and Hermione had come across him during her own 'thinking time'. The pair had stopped to talk, discussing how anxious they were, how scared they both were of what was to come. It was so unlike Fred to be so open, so honest and so vulnerable, but she relished the conversation. Despite how she had always felt about Fred and George's pranks and childish behaviour, she had always thought they were both rather intelligent. They each took it in turns to share their hopes and fears and before long, they found themselves kissing, intimately, passionately, fearfully, as though they might be experiencing this type of intimacy for the last time. It was so brief and the two apologised afterwards and expressed their desire never to repeat it or to tell anyone about it, but it was something that Hermione would always hold dear to herself. She shared her fears and Fred shared his. As it had turned out, Fred was desperately afraid of losing his brother George. He had told Hermione that to lose a twin, someone you're so close to, always beside, would have killed him. He would not have survived if he had lost George and that proved itself the night that Harry was moved from Privet Drive to The Burrow and George had his ear cursed off. The fear in Fred's eyes as he shared a brief glace with Hermione said it all. That was the moment when Hermione knew that not everyone would survive the war. She had braced herself for all the losses, but never for the loss of Fred. Now tomorrow she would have to say goodbye to Fred forever, always knowing that he didn't have to live out his fear, that his brother was living it in his place.

Hermione wept into her pillow, unsure whether she was awake or asleep. She sobbed and sobbed and allowed herself to feel everything that she was feeling. The guilt, the anger, the rejection, the loss and the regret. It all overcame her, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up beside someone who cared about her and have them tell her it would all be ok. She realised at that moment that she didn't need Malfoy to make he feel better, as much as she desperately wanted him to. She just needed a friend… anyone.

She woke with a start, early the following morning. She looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 6am. She hoped that she could get up and make a big breakfast so that the two of them could sort their stuff out before the funeral. If she had to endure this day, pretending that everything was great, constantly defending a relationship that wasn't great, she wouldn't be able to make it through.

She crept out of her room, assuming that Malfoy would be asleep, but as she went past his room, she saw that his door was open, and his bed was perfectly made. This was strange to her, as he rarely woke before 7. She assumed he was down stairs, so she took a deep breath and headed down to sort out her relationship. When she arrived in the kitchen, she found that it was empty. He wasn't there.

"Draco?" she called out, using his name for emphasis. There was no reply. She went out into the back yard and called out for him again. Still, nothing. Inside, she looked around for some sign of a struggle and found nothing out of the ordinary. She went into his room and checked his cupboard, finding his belongings still there. ' _At least he's coming back_ ' she thought. As she turned to leave the room, a piece of paper caught her eye. It read:

 _Granger,_

 _I have gone to run some errands today. I'm sorry about our argument last night and that I was too childish to turn and face you when you came in. I can't have been easy. I know that the funeral is on today and I'm sorry I can't be there. I think it's for the best. I will see you later on today._

 _Love Malfoy._

She read the letter twice over, trying to think of what to make of it. The first thought that crossed her mind was ' _He has abandoned me on the day when I really need him_ '. The second thought was ' _he has forgiven me'._

She ate a solitary breakfast before going upstairs to get ready. It was still only early but she knew the Weasleys would be up, preparing for the day. She wore an appropriate black dress with a cardigan that Malfoy had bought her and some appropriate low-heeled shoes. She did her hair as neat as she could, without overdoing it and the same with her make up. She scribbled a note back to Malfoy that read, ' _ok, see you later'_ before setting her mind on the outskirts of the Burrow and turning on the spot.

 **AN- Not everything can be roses and happiness. Who liked their fight? It felt a little rushed and forced, but it had to happen. They've been fighting since they've known each other. Where did Malfoy go? Has he really forgiven her? Should she even BE forgiven? That was a harsh outburst. What about him? Is he right in wanting to be a slacker for a while before going off into the big wide world? Or should he suck it up and get a job, have a purpose, BE somebody, as Hermione out it? Can they both live off his money forever? What about her parents? So many questions! Hopefully I will get time tomorrow to write.**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN- Cringe worthy end scene in this chapter. I have a love hate relationship with them.**

Hermione walked up the dirt path towards the burrow all on her own. She had missed this place, missed just hanging out here with her best friends, playing carefree in the orchard. She tapped gently on the door to the house and before she could finish, she was greeted by Ginny in her dressing gown.

"Hermione, you're early. Where's Malfoy?" she asked, opening the door to let her in.

"Oh, he had some things to do, thought maybe he should give it a miss today" she said, heading into the small but homely kitchen.

"Hmm, maybe for the best I suppose" said Ginny as she poured Hermione a cup of tea. The two sat together in at the dining table nursing their tea.

"Oh Ginny… I don't really know what to do" Hermione said, letting out the words she was desperate to hold in.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

"We… wait, is anybody else up? I don't want people hearing" she said.

"Just Charlie and mum" said Ginny.

"Can we go somewhere private?" Hermione asked, tears in her eyes.

"What's the matter Hermione? Is everything ok?" Ginny asked.

"No, I don't know… Can we go to your room?" Hermione asked.

"Sure, come on" Ginny said.

The two girls headed up the stairs, Hermione desperate for some advice from the girl who knew far more about relationships than Hermione ever could.

As they entered Ginny's room, Hermione put a silencing spell on the room and sat down on the bed.

"We had a fight" she said.

"Is that all?" Ginny asked, smiling.

"You don't get it, I was cruel and horrible to him and I tried to make it right and he wouldn't even listen. Now he's taken off to Merlin knows where" she said.

"What was the fight about?" Ginny asked.

"Well, he wants to live off his family money and do nothing for the foreseeable future… but I think it's more practical that we do summer school and start job training straight away" Hermione said. "He told me that he wasn't going to back down on his family traditions and I lost it" she said.

"Because his family traditions have always been anti-muggle?" Ginny asked.

"I called myself a mudblood" Hermione said.

"How did he take _that_?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I don't know… I sort of didn't give him the opportunity to respond. I just went and had a shower and got into the bed in the guest room. The first time either of us had slept alone since we left Malfoy Manor. I went to lay with him, set things straight, apologise… but he just pretended to be asleep" she said.

"Oh, Hermione, I think that everything will be ok. This is what being in a real relationship is all about. You fight, you spend time apart to figure things out, then you make up" Ginny said.

"I don't know if I am ready for a real relationship though. It's been 10 days since we escaped and now we're living together, sleeping together, spending every minute of every day together. Six months ago, I hated him. This is all very surreal" Hermione said.

"I can only imagine… Harry and I don't get to spend much time together but when we do we still have our ups and downs. It's just an adjustment. You're used to doing something a certain way and now you have to take into consideration how he feels and what he wants to do. It's an adjustment for you both. Is there a way you could compromise?" Ginny asked.

"Of course there is. I know that he's right. He has every right to want to take some time off. I just don't have that luxury" she said.

"People expect certain things of you?" Ginny assed.

"That too. But mostly, I am not someone who can rely on another person to pay my way. I need my own money" she said.

"He loves you though, doesn't he?" Ginny asked.

"Well, he says he does"

"Does he show it?"

"Of course he does" Hermione answered, smiling to herself as she thought about the various things he has one in the last week to show her how he felt.

"So, what if things were reversed, if you had more money than you could spend and he had none. Would you want to share your money with him?" Ginny asked.

"Of course,"

"so… What's the issue then?"

"My pride?"

"Hmm, exactly"

"Ginny Weasley, you're smart woman!" Hermione said.

"So, what are you going to do about the training?"

"I'm going to do it. But I won't push him. If he wants to travel, or shop or do nothing I'm ok with that, I think."

"It might be a good way to spend some time apart?" Ginny asked.

"That's very true. I love the man, but I miss my friends and my family" she said.

"Speaking of family… What are you going to do about yours?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I think I need to go sooner rather than later. I have put it off too long already" she said.

"So, this week then?" Ginny asked.

"Tomorrow, I suppose"

"And Malfoy?"

"He can either come, or not come"

"How are you going to pay?"

"I was planning on maybe doing the backpacker thing, you know, apple picking and all that"

"I think you need to talk to your boyfriend about it" Ginny said.

"I suppose I will. I'll need to fly over wont I?"

"Or you could ask about an international port key?"

"I suppose that would be much quicker"

"And cheaper"

"And safer"

"How do those giant flying things stay in the sky without magic?" Ginny asked.

"No idea" Hermione answered. Both girls laughed.

The girls conversation took a more casual turn, discussing things that were not of high importance. The normalcy felt just right for Hermione, who now had a strong sense of what her plans were for her immediate future and the unease she felt upon her arrival at the Burrow was almost gone. She still had to face Ron and participate in Fred's funeral and knew that it was going to be a very long day.

The morning dragged on slowly as the Weasley family, Harry and Hermione prepared for the arrival of the many guests that would surely arrive soon. It had been easy for Hermione to settle back into the family, being tasked with various things to keep her busy. She hadn't had the opportunity to think too much about anything while she was busy helping make food, arranging chairs and de-gnoming the garden.

As people began arriving and Hermione greeted them, it was evident that she was still considered one of the 'golden trio'. She was met with handshakes, hugs, congratulations and applause, however she became increasingly annoyed at this, given it was Fred's funeral.

"I've been putting up with it for the last week and a half" said Ron from out of nowhere. Hermione had gone out of her way to avoid him all day and had been successful till now.

"Be careful what you wish for, hey?" Hermione asked, referring to Ron's years of jealousy over Harry's unwanted fame.

"Look Hermione, I want to..." he began.

"No Ron, not today" she said. "This isn't the day for it. I forgive you. That stuff on the wireless, I don't care anymore. I know the truth, it doesn't matter what anybody tries to say about me or my relationship. I know that I will deal with it for as long as I'm with him. That's my choice. I'm ok with that" she said.

"Right… well, let's do this thing then" he said, gesturing towards the chairs that faced the Weasley burial plot in the far ends of their orchard.

Harry and Hermione walked down the centre of the isle, towards where the coffin sat, taking their seats two rows back from the front. Following them were Ginny, Ron, Percy, Bill and Charlie, taking seats in the front two rows. George walked down alone, followed closely by Mr and Mrs Weasley. The service began with some humorous recounts of the antics Fred had been up to in his life, all but one or two involving George. George stood to deliver a personal eulogy for his twin and did so with blank emotionless calm.

"He has been taking potions to stop the nightmares and the panic" Harry whispered to her.

"Right…" she whispered back.

When the guests were asked to speak, a couple of Fred's class mates went to the front and spoke openly about the ways in which Fred had touched their lives and Hermione felt it was fitting for her to tell people what she had spoken with Fred about those years ago. She stood shakily and walked to the front of the crowd. She had nothing prepared, hoping to just be able to say the right things to offer some kind of comfort.

"Not many people really knew this, but Fred and I used to talk quite a lot about our lives, our fears, things that comforted us…" she began, glancing around the crowd. At the back, she saw the familiar blonde hair and pointed chin of her favourite person. Malfoy had come. She was surprised and glad he had come, as though this was confirmation that everything was ok. She offered him a small smile before continuing. "… he was always so open with me about how he felt about his family, his friends and the war. It was an odd friendship that we had developed, but in the early hours of the morning when I spent summers here, when we often found ourselves unable to sleep, Fred shared with me some things that I would now like to share with you all… Fred loved his family dearly. He adored his mum and his little sister immensely and spoke often about the lengths he would be willing to go to, to protect the most important women in his life. He cared very deeply about his brothers and spoke of how proud he was of all of them. Charlie- Fred admired your work with dragons, Bill- your Gringotts work made him look up to you, Percy- you were always spoken highly of despite the family tensions, Fred was so very proud of you. Ron was perhaps the most talked about brother and the least suspected favourite. Fred never specifically said so, but he was incredibly proud of you Ron, and he just knew you would go far in life. And you have already, in so many ways. He loved Harry like a brother and me as a sister, but the one person he was closest to, was his twin George. He didn't speak much about George, but anybody that knew the two of them, knew they were inseparable. As annoying as it was, having them finish each other's sentences, it demonstrated a bond like no other. Fred's biggest fear was losing George. He told me that it was one thing that kept him up at night. He said to me that to lose his brother, his twin, his soul mate, he would have lost himself too. I suppose I just wanted everyone to know that there was more to Fred than his jokes and humour. Fred was incredibly deep and loyal to those he loved. I, as well as everyone here, will miss Fred, will miss the opportunities he never got to fulfil, the laughter that he carried until his final breath. I hope that my words have offered some sort of comfort to those who are hurting so badly" she finished, wiping a tear from her eye.

As she stepped down from the podium, she looked up, noticing Malfoy having taken a seat at the back. She thought for a second about joining him, but instead, sat back down beside Harry. The rest of the funeral went on as it should. No more words were spoken, just some final goodbyes and then the eventual lowering of the coffin, as the crowd of people stood around. As the first specs of dirt landed on the top of the wooden box that contained the remains of Fred Weasley, Hermione felt the familiar comforting arm of Draco Malfoy around her waist. She closed her eyes and leant into his chest, allowing herself to cry fresh tears for Fred, for his family, for his friends and for the wizarding world who had lost an incredible person.

As George had discussed earlier that day, the tears had been mopped and the celebrations of Fred's life had begun not long after the burial.

Hermione, who hadn't had much opportunity to speak alone with Malfoy since he arrived, had now found a table out of the way so she could finally sort out whatever it was that was happening between them.

"I'm glad you came" she said.

"Me too" he said, taking her hand in his and kissing her knuckles gently

"I want to let you know that I didn't mean any of what I said last night. You can do whatever you want to do, I won't stop you and it was stupid of me to expect that you would just do what I wanted you to do because I was doing it. If you need some time, I am ok with that" she said.

"I'm sorry too. I'm a fool. I'm trying to figure out how to live this new kind of life. I feel like I've lost everything that I am and whenever I try and do the right thing, it seems to be wrong. Last night when you came in and lay next to me, I wanted more than anything to hold onto you and tell you that I'm an idiot and you're right, but my stupid Malfoy pride got in the way. I guess it's just going to take some time for us to get to where we need to be, and I hope you will stay with me long enough to find it" he said.

"I love you Malfoy. I want to be with you" she said.

At this, Malfoy let go of her hands, took his wand out and cast a circle around his enclosed left hand. Hermione watched carefully, not sure of what to make of it. After uttering a few words that Hermione couldn't make out, Malfoy stopped, placed his wand inside the pocket of his robe and held his hand closer to Hermione. She looked at his hand and up into his eyes that seemed full of fear. What was going on? He opened his hand and in it, he held a gold ring that contained some small stones that shone brighter than the sun.

"I'm not asking you to marry me, yet… but I am making you a promise that I am yours. Hermione, I love you and I need you in my life. I need you to know that I am serious about us. Please wear this ring as a promise that you're mine too" he said, desperation and fear radiating from his words. Hermione looked down at the ring and back at his face. She was stunned and shocked. Just this morning, she thought he had left her.

"I… ok, yes I will wear the ring. I'm yours, always" she said softly.

Her words were met with that smile she rarely saw on his face, the one she hadn't seen until recently. He took the ring from his hand and it promptly stopped glowing, revealing a beautifully subtle gold ring with small stones set inside the intricacies of the ring, that gleamed slightly when the light touched it. He placed it carefully on her finger and leant forward to kiss her. Everything about this moment was perfect. It didn't matter that they were at a wake. It didn't matter that they had been fighting up until an hour ago. It didn't matter that Ron was staring daggers at them at that very moment. Hermione had never been surer of something in her whole life as she now was about her love for Draco Malfoy.

The event went on and Hermione made a point of talking to everyone that she could. The general consensus was that Malfoy was capable of change and everyone was happy for them in their relationship. Harry congratulated them and suggested the 4 of them try and get together whenever they could. Nothing would ever make right all the things Malfoy had done to the trio in the past if Harry Potter could get past it, almost everyone could. The only person who wasn't cheering for the couple was Ron, who had started drinking firewhisky shortly after the burial. Hermione knew a fight was coming between Ron and Malfoy, she just hoped it didn't have to be now.

As the afternoon turned to night and the lights in the garden twinkled, the wake had turned into a full-blown party, with bonfire, music and laughter. Ron was staggering over by the orchard, but everyone else was still talking about Fred and Georges antics with fondness.

Hermione thought about going over to see if he was alright but thought better of it. They had finally come to a place where they could be ok with one another and she didn't want to ruin that by getting into an argument while he was drunk.

She sat beside Malfoy, staring into the fire thinking about how much they had to do to before their lives could ever feel normal, like a regular teenage couple, ready to begin to lead adult lives. As she contemplated this, Fleur came over and sat beside her.

"Ermione, so 'appy to see you 'ere" she said.

"Fleur, how have you been?" Hermione asked.

"Eet has been rough. Ze family is suffering… I was 'oping to talk to you in privat, no?" she said.

"I'll go get us some drinks" Malfoy said, kissing Hermione on top of her head before walking away.

"Is everything ok?" Hermione asked.

"I came across zomething interesting recently and I thought it waz a good idea to tell you" she began, "Ave you ever 'eard of Stockholm Syndrome?" she asked.

"I think I remember the term, but not sure on the specifics" she said.

"Vell, it is a muggle phrase that I learned ov that talks about people who 'av been kidnapped… Sometimes, ze 'uman brain can trick us into theenking we feel something for someone that eesnt what it would usually be" she said.

"What do you mean Fleur?" asked Hermione, confused.

"I am sorry, my eenglish is a bit off today. I will try… DO you theenk, that you might only think zat you love this person, when you might have developed feelings for him because you had to adapt? He kept you as his prisoner Ermione, you should be feeling zome hatred for him, no?" Fleur asked.

"You're asking if I might be confused about my feelings for Malfoy?" Hermione asked.

"Yes"

"Fleur, I can assure you, my feelings and his are real. He was just as much a prisoner as I was. We helped each other escape. We saved each other" Hermione said.

"Ok, zat is all I needed to hear. If you are appy and believe in your love, who am I to tell you different?" she asked, offering a smile to Hermione who was now feeling slightly annoyed.

"Who else thinks that I'm crazy?" Hermine asked.

"I've only talked to Bill about it" she said.

"Good. It's a load of rubbish and completely ridiculous" Hermione said, getting up from where she sat and walking away to find her boyfriend.

She walked through the small gathering of people and eventually found Malfoy deep in conversation with Harry. She was initially worried, but as she watched from a distance, she saw that they appeared to be getting on. She approached them and stood close, beside Malfoy.

"You ready to go soon? We have a big day tomorrow" she said.

"Yeah, just catching up on old times with Potter here" Malfoy said.

"That concerns me" she said.

"Its fine Hermione, we've agreed to leave our differences in the past. Just having a joke about the things each of us hadn't known the other had done" Harry said.

"The Polyjuice?" she asked.

"I can't believe you turned yourself into a cat" Malfoy said.

"Yes, well… That's so funny isn't it" she said with a sigh.

"What's tomorrow?" Harry asked.

"I need to go to Australia, sooner rather than later" she said. "I was going to speak to Kinglsey to arrange for a portkey as soon as I can" she said.

"You're going alone?" Harry asked.

"No chance" Malfoy said.

"Well, I'm glad Hermione will have someone taking care of her. I've been so busy with the hearings and things I couldn't even go if I wanted to" Harry said. "And Ron… well, he's not in any position to be going anywhere" he added.

"Hmm, maybe you should go check on him? We're heading home now anyway. I'll keep in touch though" she said, encasing her best friend in a hug.

"You better" he said, shaking Malfoy's hand before heading over to where Ron was arguing with a gnome

"Come on, let me take you home. I missed you" Malfoy said, leading her down the dirt path towards the boundary gate.

The pair stood side by side, arm in arm in the moonlight and kissed, before twisting into the night air and vanishing from where they stood.

Arriving on the front porch, the couple entered the house, hand in hand. Hermione was greeted with the sight of what appeared to be a hundred yellow daisies.

"What is this?" she asked, stunned.

"My way of saying I'm sorry" he said.

She looked around at the sight with a smile on her face.

"You're forgiven" she said, kissing him.

"I missed this" he said.

"It was only half a day" she said.

"Half a day _and_ a night that I could have been kissing you" he said. "I was stupid to fight with you" he said.

"It doesn't matter anymore" she said, standing on her tip toes to kiss him. She kissed him as though she were making up for the lost time. With passion and greed, desperate to tell him that things were ok.

 **((AN- If you're not old enough, don't read the rest of this chapter. You wont miss any story line, just some smut. Consider yourself warned))**

When he kissed her back, she hurriedly undid his tie, ripping it off from around his neck and followed quickly with his shirt buttons. She continued kissing him as she pushed his shirt from his shoulders and down to the floor. She reached behind herself and swiftly undid the zipper at the back of her dress, leaving them standing in the living room, surrounded by flowers, him in just his pants, her in her underwear. She walked him carefully to the couch, pushing him to sit as she straddled him. She was eager to show him how much this relationship meant to her, in any way she could.

She sat facing him, her legs either side of his, giving her full control of the situation. His erection was in its full glory, protesting against the fabric of his pants, pulsing against her. She continued kissing him, unsure exactly of what to do next. She hadn't really thought this through but now that she was there, she was going to see it through. She was grinding herself against him, feeling him press against her sensitive places. His hands explored her body, grabbing her backside, guiding her body as she moved slowly on top of him. She continued kissing him, desperate for this intimacy, following their fight.

She moved back slightly, allowing her access to his pants. She undid his belt and his pants allowing his erection to spring free. It did so with raging fury and she took the opportunity to take it into her hand, grasping it firmly. She heard his sharp intake of breath and looked to his face as he clearly enjoyed the feel of her hand on him. She moved slowly up and down, unsure of what she was doing, but going with what felt natural. Malfoy reached beside him, retrieving his wand, vanishing her underwear swiftly as she continued.

"I want to be buried deep inside you" he hissed through is teeth, before grasping her face and roughly, eagerly kissing her.

She held his erection in her hand as she lifted her body up, moving it closer to his. She knew it would be painful like the first time, but now she was prepared, she knew the pain would be short lived and the ecstasy following it would be divine. She hovered over his erection briefly, before slowly lowering herself onto it. She felt the tip enter her and the sharp pain that she felt the first time returned. She removed her hand and placed both hands on the back of the couch. She thought she might not be able to go on, but Malfoy's hand cupped her breast, fondling her nipple and she let go of the pain in her mind. Ever so slowly she lowered herself down, sinking him into her, every inch deep down inside her core, where no one but he had ever been present. The pain remained but the feeling of him inside her, the emotions attached to those feelings overcame the pain. She carefully raised herself up just a bit before slowly lowering back down again, feeling the warmth of his skin against hers.

Malfoy placed his hands on her backside, directing her movements, slow at first, guiding her up and down, sliding himself almost completely out of her, before pulling her back down, filling her, stretching her, claiming her as his own. He didn't hurry, instead allowing her to set the pace, going slow to savour the moment. With the pain but a memory, Hermione picked up the pace a little, grinding against him until she felt the familiar sensation building deep within her core. She kissed him clumsily before rocking back and forth, no longer concerned with feeling every inch of him, instead, desperate to feel any part of him press against her sensitive spot.

She felt herself build more and more, the longer she went on. She knew that he wouldn't last much longer as she could sense his breathing get faster and he was now gripping her harder than ever. She threw her head back as her orgasm took hold of her body, unrelenting, starting at the place where the two of the joined and spreading its warmth throughout her whole body, finishing up in her mind where she now saw only stars. She was vaguely aware that she was still moving, still gripping the back of the couch. He had control now. He directed her to stand, easing himself out of her. His eyes were full of passion, desperation and lust.

"Hold onto the back of the couch" he instructed. "This might be fast" he said.

Hermione did as she was told, bending to place her hands on the back of the couch. He stood behind her, gripping her, running his hands up her back, around her body and cupping her breasts. She felt vulnerable but had no time to think before she felt him run the tip of his erection up and down her slit. He carefully eased himself back inside of her, making her moan as the sensation was free from pain and full of delight.

"Is this ok?" he asked.

She had no words in her vocabulary at that time, but simply nodded, pushing back against him as he filled her completely. He gripped her hips and moved his body against hers, slow at first, eager to keep her from hurting. She gripped the couch as she moved her body in time with his. Back and forward, eager to feel him come apart as she had moments earlier. He continued to thrust into her, building in speed, gripping her harder. She knew he was close and wanted him to feel good. She pushed back against him hard now, showing him how much she wanted this, how much she loved this, how much she wanted him to pour himself into her. And that he did. He held tight onto her and where he was once gentle, he was now pounding himself into her, slamming his body against hers, over and over, gripping her tight as she held tight onto the couch. She felt his body convulse and could feel him throbbing inside of her, releasing all that he is into her, climaxing with finality as he groaned her name.

He released his grip on her, slowly pulling out of her before he took the blanket off the back of the couch and wrapping it around both of them. He pulled her onto his lap, stretching out on the couch and kissed the top of her head. He felt loved, cherished, completed sated.

She laid against his chest, listing to his heart beat and breathing slow down gradually. She wasn't sure if she fell asleep first or if he did.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN- Smashed out this quick chapter before heading back to work tomorrow. Hopefully i find time during the week to write some more. Stay posted. Once again, cringe worthy scene at the end. As this loving couple finds themselves trusting and loving one another more, the sexy stuff will continue... Not even sorry. Sex is part of any good relationship. Its all about the intimacy. Enjoy. Again, if you're too young to read it, don't. Skipping it wont make you lose any of the story, just some smutty filler that emphasises the progression of their relationship.**

Hermione stood in the office of Kingsley Shacklebolt the next morning, preparing the paperwork for their journey to Australia.

"Now usually it would take a few weeks or days at the very least, but I have made some exceptions. The two of you will travel to the Australian ministry of magic in Canberra Australia before you do what it is you need to do to bring your parents back. The ministry at the other end will stamp your passports so you can fly back the muggle way. They will change your money to Australian muggle currency as they do not utilise wizard money there. Now, they operate with dollars and cents, which is easy enough to understand for two capable youngsters like yourselves. Don't expect that you'll find them on the first day. Get a motel and plan your trip. Now good luck, the port key leaves in 2 minutes" the booming, yet strangely soothing voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt advised them.

"You ready for this?" Malfoy asked.

"Not really, no" Hermione said. "But I have to do it, don't I" she said.

"I'm here with you, all the way" he soothed, as the port key turned bright blue and the pair were pulled into oblivion.

They arrived moments later, welcomed immediately by the Australian minister of magic. The minister was rather tall with strawberry blonde hair that sat straight and stopped at her shoulders. She had some of it roughly pinned at the top of her head and a pen sticking in it. Her make-up was subtle, and she had freckles on her face. She wore a navy-blue pants and a grey shirt. It appeared as though she had just removed her jacket as there was a matching jacket slung over a chair in the corner of the room. She looked nothing like what she expected the Australian minister to look like.

"You must be our wonderful couple, Hermione and Draco?" she beamed, as the pair had just regained their footing.

"Yes, yes, we are, it's nice to meet you, uh…." She said, unsure of the minister's name.

"Sharron Jennings, but my friends call me Shaz. I'm sure you'll be calling me Shaz in no time ay" she said.

"Thank you, Mrs Jennings" Hermione said politely.

"Gosh, none of this 'Mrs' nonsense. You saved the wizarding world my girl, just call me Sharron for now. So, I understand you're here to find your parents?" she asked, exiting the room, instructing them to follow.

"Yes, we are. They were going to Sydney somewhere to set up a dentist's office" Hermione said.

"Fantastic, that's great. So, all we gotta do is get you two to Sydney then I spose? Do you know where ya gonna stay? Motels?" she said.

"We have an idea of where we're going to begin looking, but any help would be greatly appreciated" Malfoy said.

"Well, there's heaps of motels in the city but you're better off in Darling Harbour. I can give you a print out of all the dentists that are registered in New South Wales if that will help?" she said.

"That would be perfect, thank you" Hermione said, happy that their journey wouldn't be too lengthy.

"So down here is the domestic port key service. They will transport you to our arrivals terminal in Sydney, which is conveniently located in the heart of the city. Do you have access to funds?"

"Yes, although we will need our money changed to Australian dollars" Hermione said.

"Not a problem, come this way, I'll take you there myself" the minister said. Hermione felt that she was being rather helpful and wondered if she was doing it because if who Hermine was or if it was just in her nature.

Entering another room, they were greeted by a person sitting behind a desk, whose name badge read "Carly".

"Carly, this is Hermione and Draco from the UK. They have some money to exchange. Can you do that as quick as you can please" the minster asked.

"Absolutely no problem boss" said Carly. Hermione was struck by the casual way they interacted. "So, I've heard a lot about what's been going on over there in the last few weeks. Not good ay" she said.

"Actually, it's been a rather long few years if I'm honest" Hermione said.

"True. Well, how much do ya think you'll need?" she asked.

"We're not too sure, we don't exactly know how long we're staying for" Draco said.

"I'll give you enough to do ya for a week, how about that?" she said.

"Sounds perfect" said Hermione.

They exchanged their money for strange purple, blue, orange and yellow notes with some gold and silver coins before meeting up with the minister in the corridor.

"Sorry, had to duck out. Job's always busy" she said handing them a piece of paper that read ' _NSW Registered Dentists'_.

"Oh, that's ok. I understand completely. Thank you for this list. It will be incredibly helpful" Hermione said.

"So, why Australia, if you don't mind me asking?" asked the minister.

"My parents always wanted to visit. Seemed fitting" Hermione said shrugging.

"Well, great place you chose. The weather will probably be not too bad for ya, it's almost winter here, so not too hot" she said.

"That's great" said Hermione, following the minister through the door marked "Domestic Port Key Service". There was a line of people waiting to travel and the low hum of conversation stopped when the minister walked in.

The minister took the pair to the front of the room where another door led into a smaller room.

"Doreen, this is the couple I was telling you about. They need to get to Sydney urgently" said the minister. Towards the back of the room, there were protests and cries of ' _cutter'_ and ' _how come they get to push in_?'.

"I don't mind waiting, honestly" said Hermione at the sounds of the Australian people's protests.

"It's ok dear, just a bit of a backlog to get through today. You're our special guest" said the woman. "Thank you for bringing them down Shaz, I'll make sure they get to Sydney, free of charge" said Doreen.

"So, I suppose this is goodbye. Be sure to get in touch if you need anything" said the minister, handing them a card.

"Thank you for your help Sharron" said Hermione, offering a hand.

"Oh, it's nothing" the minister said, pulling her into a hug. "Now, go on, get outa here" she said.

Hermione and Draco stood in the small room next to a frisbee.

"I think they're friends" Malfoy whispered in her ear.

"Why" she asked.

"She called her Shaz" he said, as the frisbee turned bright blue.

The pair arrived in a small brick room that was completely dark, except for a small light above, illuminating the ceiling. A sign on the wall read "Please do not dawdle as you will interrupt coming passengers". Hermione dumped the frisbee in the bin marked ' _used port keys'_. The bin was almost full of various items that were no longer needed.

"Come on, let's go" Hermione said, concerned by this strange looking room. They exited through a door that led to some stairs. They climbed the stairs and went through a door that opened into what appeared to be a busy railway station. The door that shut behind them read "Exit only, no entry".

"Looks a little like Kings Cross station, doesn't it?" Hermione said.

"Yes, it does a bit" Malfoy said. "Is it just me or is it night time?" he asked, looking to the platform on the opposite side of the station where they entered.

"I think it is. I wonder what the time is" Hermione said, looking around.

On the wall behind them stood a large clock that ticked the seconds by.

"Its 7pm" Malfoy said.

"We've lost a whole day" she exclaimed. "We'd better go find somewhere to stay then" she said.

They looked around and when they spotted a sign that read 'exit' they headed towards the doors. Walking through the station, they saw trains waiting to depart, people rushing around and life going on as normal.

When they walked through the doors, they found themselves at a taxi stand at the top of a hill.

"Do you want to get a taxi, or should we walk?" Malfoy asked.

"I don't mind walking, I'll get the map out" she said.

They looked at the map of Sydney that Hermione had brought with her but decided against walking, opting to take a taxi instead. The taxi ride to Darling Harbour was not too long. When they arrived, they paid the driver and headed for the hotel that the taxi driver suggested.

They entered the lobby and waited at the reception desk for someone to check them in.

"It's late, maybe there's no one here?" Hermione said.

"There has to be someone" Malfoy said, pressing the bell to alert someone to their arrival.

"Hello! Sorry I was out the back. Are you looking to check in?" asked a voice from behind a door. The door swung open, revealing a short thin brunette in a tight fitted business skirt and plain blouse.

"Yes please, we want a room for two…" he said placing his arm around Hermione as the woman looked him up and down greedily "…somewhere nice. Not the penthouse, but close. Do you have something like that?" he asked, formally.

"Ohhh, brits are yas? I'll see what we have" she said, looking at the key board behind her. "Hmm, seems like you're in luck, we have a room just below pent house level, seven hundred a night" she said with a smirk. Draco removed his arm from around Hermione and put it into his pocket casually. He eyed the woman suspiciously before speaking.

"Now, I know that that room usually goes for five eighty, but because I'm such a great _Brit_ , I'll give you four fifty a night for it and I won't tell your boss tomorrow morning" he said.

"How did you… I…" she stammered, before handing them a swipe card each. "I'm sorry for the mix up" she said, red faced. "Do you need an escort to your room?" she asked.

"No, I'm sure we can manage. Tenth floor, right?" he asked.

The woman jut nodded as the couple turned their backs and headed for the lift.

"How did you know she was lying?" Hermione asked, once they were in the lift.

He just tapped the side of his temple and said nothing. Hermione gasped.

"I knew you were a skilled occlumens but legilimens too?" she asked.

"I learnt a thing or two in my time…" he said with a shrug.

"Why didn't you tell me? Have you ever used it on me?" she asked.

"Once. In the cellar. I wanted to make sure you were telling the truth" he said.

"Right…" she said.

"Don't be mad. Look where we are. I promise I will never use it on you. Ever. No matter what" he begged.

"I'm not mad… I just wish I knew is all" she said, kissing him as the lifts to the door opened.

When they arrived in their room, Malfoy encased Hermione in his arms.

"I can't believe we're here" she said.

"One day I'll bring you back for a real holiday" he said.

"Well I suppose we could give ourselves a day or so. I don't suspect it will take very long to find them, I mean, they're on the list, we just need to find them" she said as she opened the curtains that led to the balcony. "Oh wow, come take a look at this" she said, opening the glass sliding door, revealing the magnificent view.

They stood on the balcony and looked out at the harbour. They could see everything, hear everything, smell everything. The lights from the boats, shops and street lamps illuminated everything perfectly.

"This is amazing" she said.

"It is… And so are you" he said, kissing her. "Merlin, I love you so much" he said, looking into her excited face.

"I love you too" she said, kissing him back.

"Do you want to go down and have a look around or just stay in and order room service or something?" Hermione asked, after a lengthy snogging session.

"I'd like to stay in and do more of that" Malfoy said, kissing her once again.

"While that would be wonderful, it is technically 11am our time and we would need to be thinking about lunch" she said.

"Alright, how about we see if we can find a restaurant nearby?" he suggested.

"That sounds great" Hermione said, kissing him on the cheek.

A couple of hours later, the couple were strolling hand in hand along the pier, having just had an amazing meal at one of the many restaurants that lined the harbour.

"I still can't believe we're here" she said.

"I can't believe I'm here with you" he said.

They stood under the lights of the harbour, surrounded by the sounds of the night life in the city, in each other's arms.

"I can't believe how lucky I have been to be where I am now" Malfoy said. "If you hadn't come into my life in the way you did, who knows what I might have ended up doing. As much as I hate what happened to you, I'm glad it brought us together. You're the most incredible person I have ever met" he said.

"Well, you did make my _stay_ less unbearable. I don't know how I feel about all of that, but I sure am glad to be with you now. You make me feel special. I feel like _I'm_ the luckiest person in the world" she said.

"I just wonder what would have happened years ago if I had taken the time or had the opportunity to get to know you" he said.

"It wouldn't have happened. You had to get to the point where you were able to see the other way. That wasn't until Voldemort, Dumbledore, me… Everything happens for a reason. Maybe all of this… stuff… happened so we would both see each other for what we are. You've changed me as much as I've changed you. Don't ever forget that" she said.

"I promise, I will never forget anything you say" he said, leaning down and kissing her.

"I'm not even tired" Hermione called out, stretching out in the king size bed in the motel room.

"Me neither, but its past midnight here" Malfoy said, heading to the bedroom from the kitchen.

"Only 4pm back home" she said, grumpily.

"Afternoon nap then?" he asked, climbing up the bed from the bottom, over her feet, past her knees, stopping at the apex of her thighs before continuing. He kissed her before speaking.

"I want to try something" he said turning off the light.

"Ok" she said, hesitating.

 **(AN- Stop here if you wish to avoid the kink.. FYI - they go to sleep afterwards, then end of chapter)**

He kissed her again, trailing kisses down her neck, over her chest, spending a few seconds on each nipple before continuing south. He kissed each of her hip bones that protruded slightly before hooking his fingers in to the tops of her pants, tugging slightly. She lifted herself off the bed a little as he gently slid her pyjama bottoms down her thighs, over her calves and off her feet. Her breathing was heavy as she anticipated what was to come.

He kissed down her thighs, parting them as he went. Hermione felt incredibly vulnerable, completely at the mercy of his whim. He was settled between her legs, trailing kissed all up and down her things, getting closer to their apex as he went. It was incredibly sensual to Hermione, who was laying back enjoying the experience. She enjoyed everything he did to her body, which allowed her to relax. She knew he wouldn't hurt her.

He carefully, slowly ran a finger along her slit, which was already wet from her anticipation. He paused at the top, seeking the little bundle of nerves that would make her squirm. Ever so gently, he pressed on it, causing her to moan. He slipped his finger up and down her slit, making her moan greedily. She had never felt such strong sense of desire before. She could lay here and let him do this to her all day. As she laid back with her eyes closed and her hands fisting in the sheets, just as she thought that it was as good as it got, Malfoy carefully, gently, slowly, placed his tongue on her clit. It sent a shockwave of pleasure through her body that she had never felt before.

"Oh my gosh" she cried out, gasping for air as the sensation threatened to overwhelm her senses.

Malfoy didn't stop his sweet torture, licking and sucking his way towards her orgasm. He slowly inserted a long skilled finger inside her, making her cry out again. She was all sensation as he continued his sweet sweet assault on her senses. Hermione felt, as his finger moved inside her, another sweet spot that he had located. The combination of the licking, the stroking, the internal and external stimulus, sent her body into an incredible wave of orgasm. One after the other, Hermione cried out like she had never done before, over and over again as he continued to lick, suck and stroke his way towards some sort of goal. He didn't stop until Hermione's cries and moans were but a whimper and she could no longer create any logical sounds. All forms thought had now abandoned her mind as she barely noticed him crawling up the bed to lay beside her. While she felt that she could sleep for an eternity, she pulled him on top of her, clumsily removing his pants as she went.

"Do you have the energy?" he asked.

She had no words, so she just nodded, wrapping her legs around his body as he rammed himself into her. This time there was no pain, just sweet sweet satisfaction that made her cry out again. It was fast, much faster than the other times, but this is what they both were seeking. He was rough, but she didn't care. In fact, she liked it. He held her firmly, pounding into her over and over and she met him thrust for thrust. Before much longer, she felt him tense up, moaning as he came inside of her.

"Now sleep" he said, as he rolled off her and laid beside her.

She didn't have to be told twice, she closed her eyes and very quickly found herself sleeping peacefully.


	15. Chapter 15

The following day Hermione and Malfoy used the motel phone to call every dentist under the name Hermione had set them up with; Wilkins. The directory was sorted by area, so she began with the ones in the city and worked her way outwards. If she had known how many Wilkins' there were in Australia, she may have thought it through a little better. After an hour or so of calling without getting anywhere, Hermione had all but given up.

"We've called all the ones within an hour's drive of the city. Surely they wouldn't have gone away?" she said. "I convinced them to set up in the city, so I would know where they were" she said.

"Maybe it was too busy for them?" he asked, trying to offer some kind of comfort.

"Yeah, maybe… Or maybe I messed up and they're nowhere to be found?" she said.

"How about I start on the ones at the bottom of the pile shall I?" He said, picking up a stack of papers that said ' _Bega, NSW Dental registry'_.

"I'll look at these ones…. Broken Hill… I wonder if there is a hill there?" she said, idly.

They took it in turns asking for a Monica or a Wendel, but quickly found that no one had heard of them.

"Hey, look at this, Wollongong… They have a quidditch team. They're not too bad in fact" Malfoy said, reading out the next suburb on his list. There were 5 Wilkins' in the area and after the forth rejection, he felt hopeless about calling the fifth.

Hermione took the opportunity to get some fresh air on the balcony, closing the door behind her so she didn't have to listen to the same conversation that they had been having all day.

She stared down at the people going about their day, the cars and buses buzzing around the city, everyone oblivious to how close they came to losing it all to Voldemort.

As Hermione contemplated her next move, she heard the door open behind her.

"Got them!" he shouted excitedly.

"What? Who?"

"Your parents. They're in Wollongong. The very last place I called" he said, smiling.

"Well, what did you say?"

"I tried to book an appointment, but she said something about being a small community dentist and there is a process. I have the address anyway. We can go today if you like" he said.

"Draco, we've found them" Hermione said, still in shock.

"We have" he said, encasing her in his arms.

Hermione's emotions were so conflicted, she was happy and sad, shocked and relieved. Being in Malfoy's arms was the thing she needed right now to stop her from losing her mind. She hadn't thought it would be so easy and at the same time, she didn't think it would be so strange knowing that she would have her parents back so soon. She was so used to being independent, she was unsure how she might manage under their roof again.

"Come, I'll call the reception and ask for travel options for Wollongong" he said.

They two of them headed inside and sat on the couch by the phone. Hermione was deep in thought as Malfoy made the call, writing furiously on a note pad as he uttered "uh huh" every few seconds.

When he hung up, Hermione looked at him expectantly.

"This pen, do you call it? This is incredible!" he said. "So, we can go today and find accommodation tonight or wait till morning. There is a train that takes us directly to Wollongong or we can arrange a private car if you prefer. We can probably use the port key service but I'm not sure how to get there. What do you think?" he said.

"I think we can catch the train there today" she said.

"Ok, well there is a train in just over an hour. It won't take long to get to the train station, so if we pack, we can head there" he said.

"You truly are amazing. I couldn't do this alone" she said, throwing her arms around him.

"I wouldn't let you" he said, stroking her hair.

"Let's do this then" she said, looking around at their belongings scattered around the hotel room.

An hour later, Hermione and Draco were standing on a busy platform waiting for their train to arrive. Hermione was all nerves as she realised her life was about to change. She was also hesitant about the spell she would have to perform, wondering to herself if she would be able to do it right.

The train arrived, and they boarded, taking seats upstairs once they entered the carriage. The ride was bumpy and noisy as it was now well into the afternoon and there were people coming travelling home from school and work.

It felt like they had bene on the train for hours when Hermione looked out the window and saw the ocean.

"wow, look at the view" she said, glancing through the gaps in the trees as the train rushed past.

"That's incredible" he said.

"We're going to miss seeing all of this you know" she said. "Once we find my parents and sort everything out, we won't get any time to spend together. I don't know when I'm going to see you alone again. I don't know if they're going to be ok with me having a boyfriend. I don't know if…" she said.

"It will all be ok. We've had the most amazing couple of weeks together and we'll have more amazing times in the future. Your parents need you" he said.

"I'm just not so sure that I need them. Not really, not anymore" she finally said the thing she had been holding in for weeks. Had she outgrown her parents?

"Of course you do. You just pushed them away to keep them safe. I guarantee, once you find them and they know who you are, everything will be fine. I'll just go back to Canberra and you can fly them home. Easy" he said reassuringly.

Hermione just smiled and continued to look out the window. They went through some tunnels and down some hills. It seemed as though the land was flattening out as she could no longer see down towards the ocean, rather the ocean was almost level with the train line.

As the announcer called " _Next stop Wollongong"_ Hermione and Malfoy prepared to leave the train.

The city of Wollongong was pretty big. It encompassed many suburbs, each which could potentially house her parents.

They left the train and exited the station onto the street nearby. There were buses and taxis outside and Malfoy headed towards the closest taxi.

"Do you know Wollongong Community Dentist?" Malfoy asked the driver, leaning into the window.

"Yeah mate I do, but it's after 5, the dentist won't be open" said the driver.

"How about a good motel nearby?" Malfoy asked.

"Sure thing, there's one just up the road. I'll take ya no worries" he said.

They sat side by side in the back seat of the white sedan that had blue stickers on it and the driver drove off up the street.

"So, you two are Brits then hey?" he asked.

"Yes, we're just here for a while on Business" Hermione said.

"What business ya got in the Gong?" he asked quizzically, as though people didn't come to Wollongong on business very often...

"Oh, nothing exciting. We're head-hunters. Looking for some dentists for our new place back home" she said.

"Sounds pretty snazzy to me" he said.

Hermione wondered what the word snazzy mean and was going to ask when he pulled up in front of a building.

"There ya go, five bucks" he said.

Malfoy handed over the money and the two of them left the taxi and entered the building.

"Hi sir, are you looking for a room?" the man at reception asked.

"Yes, we are. Any room will do. Nothing too small though" he said.

"I have the perfect one for you both" said the man. He was the least difficult to understand out of everyone Hermione had met since she arrived in this country. They spoke English, but their accents were so relaxed and their slang so odd that it made it difficult to understand them sometimes.

The man led them towards the elevator and directed them to their room on the 5th floor. When they entered, they found it to be smaller than the previous one in Sydney, but with nicer furnishings and fixtures. The balcony door didn't open and had a sign indicating that it was locked. Through the window, Hermione could see what she thought to be some kind of industrial district in the distance. This place was certainly shaping up to be an odd city. She wondered if her parents had spent much time in the inner city or if they had lived outside of it. She had so many questions but none of them would be answered until the next day.

The afternoon had now turned into night and Hermione and Malfoy used a map to navigate their way to a restaurant before strolling through the main thoroughfare of the city. The shopping centre had what looked like a bird cage covering a wide-open area in the middle which had seating and plants. They took in all of these strange new surroundings before walking the short distance back to the motel.

Their night was uneventful with Hermione desperate to get a long night's sleep and Malfoy just as tired. The following morning, they attended the buffet breakfast downstairs before heading out, determined to accomplish their mission that day.

The dentist was not too far away, but not close enough to walk. They took a bus to a suburb called Fairy Meadow and walked a few metres up the main street before coming to a stop outside the ordinary looking building. When they entered, a bell above the door rang out and a young woman sat up at her desk in a small waiting room.

"Can I help ya" she asked.

"I was hoping to make an appointment" Hermione said casually.

"Yeah, sorry we only take referrals from the bigger community dentist. You have to call this number..." she handed over a fridge magnet, "…and they slot you in when your name comes up to the top of the list" she said.

"Oh, right… Well, is there any way I can pay privately?" she asked.

"Nah, sorry, it's purely government funded. Ya know, pension card holders" she said, shrugging.

"Is the dentist here at all today?" she asked.

"Monica? Yeah, she's here. Bit of a softy though, if you're just after advice, she'll probably give you some" she said.

The lady pushed a button on the nearby phone and within a second or so, a British female voice answered.

"Hey, there's some young ones here to ask you some questions" she said.

"I'll be right out" said Monica, her voice unmistakable to Hermione, who's eyes glossed over with tears of longing and of fear.

The door to the surgery opened and Monica Wilkins came out, wearing a white jacket over a casual dress and business like heals. Hermione almost fell over when she saw her mum, the look of realisation not reflected by the older woman.

"Hi there, you had some questions to ask? I have a few minutes till my next patient" she said with a friendly smile.

"Can we come out the back, it's kind of personal" Hermione said.

"Oh, fellow Brits I see? Absolutely, come on back" she said, ushering them through the door. They entered an office that Hermione felt was clearly her mum all over. Monica may be the name she was using but this was Jean Granger's life.

"So, how can I help?" she asked.

"Well, my name is Hermione, and this is my… colleague, Draco. We're doing some research on community dentists in the state and were hoping to book a time to come back and ask you some questions" she said, thinking of something off the top of her head.

"Oh, research, that would be wonderful, perhaps it could inspire donors to get on board. How about lunch tomorrow?" she asked.

"Lunch tomorrow sounds great. Do you know any other dentists who could provide a deeper level of understanding about dentistry?" she asked.

"Well, my husband is a lecturer at the university, I will see if he can join us" she said.

"That would be perfect" said Hermione, trying to hide her eagerness to have both her parents in the same room together, with time to do what needed to be done. It was all coming together perfectly. Almost too perfectly in fact, but Hermione brushed it off. After all, she was destined for a bit of luck in her life.

A short time later, Hermione and Malfoy were saying goodbye to the woman who would be Jean Granger in a little more than 24 hours and heading for the street. They didn't both calling a taxi instead walking down the street towards a small shopping strip.

"So, what did you think about my mum" Hermione asked Malfoy, entwining her hand with his.

"She was nice" he said.

"Just nice?"

"Well, it's not exactly her at the moment, is it? I imagine that once she remembers she's a mother, _your_ mother, she may change a little"

"Yes, I hadn't thought of that" she said.

"I thought you may have performed the spell then" he said.

"Well, I had planned on doing it as soon as she shut the door, but I had to make sure I had time and I wanted to have them both together. It's all coming together, I just need one more day" she said.

"So tomorrow then?" Malfoy asked, kissing Hermione's knuckles.

"Tomorrow" she said, walking up a secluded alley way between two shops, turning on the spot and disappearing with a crack.

 **xoxoxoxox**

 **AN- Thank you all for sticking by this story for so long. It has gone way further than I had initially planned, however it is leading up to something big. Thank you for the new reviews, i read every one of them and they do guide my writing, so anything you have, i'm happy to take it on board. I love that people are taking time out of their lives to read this thing that i am spending so much of my own time on. I am in the final weeks of my university degree, finishing up 500 hours of unpaid work placement and a couple of classes, which is why the chapters aren't coming as quickly as i would like. I promise if you stay with me, the ending will be epic! I just need the reviews to know that i haven't lost anybody. So if you're still with me, just post a quick review to let me know and i'll try and get the chapters going quicker. Hoping to get the next chapter out in a fee hours... Stay tuned.**


	16. Chapter 16

The next day, Hermione and Malfoy found themselves waiting in the lobby of the Motel where they were staying. The Grangers/Wilkins' had agreed to meet them in one of the meeting rooms at the motel to provide a more formal space for the interview.

"Do you think this will work?" Hermione asked as she stood there anxiously twisting her fingers together.

"You're the brightest witch I know Granger. If anyone can undo the spell _you_ cast, it's you" he said reassuringly, as the doors to the street opened and Mr and Mrs Granger entered.

"Monica, how lovely to see you again. This must be your husband…" Hermione said, formerly.

"Wendel Wilkins, nice to meet you" he said, extending a hand for them both to shake.

"Lovely. Well, we've arranged to have access to the meeting room for an hour, so shall we get started then?" Hermione said in her best impression of a journalist. The four of them headed to a corner of the lobby where a door stood open. They walked through the door and down a hallway until they arrived at a small meeting room. In the middle of the room stood a round table with a jug of iced water and some glasses and to the edge of the room, a platter of sandwiches and tea and coffee facilities.

"Well, you've certainly gone above and beyond for this interview" her father said.

"Well, yes, this is very important to me. Why don't you both make yourselves a tea and take some sandwiches. This is all very informal" she said.

A few minutes later, the group sat around the round table, making small talk about dentistry and eating their lunch. Hermione's wand sat on her lap, carefully concealed by the tablecloth and she was waiting for the right time to wordlessly cast the enchantment that would reverse their memory modification charm. She had practised and practiced, but nothing had prepared her for how this felt.

During a pause in conversation, Hermione realised that the time had come, so she took her wand in her right hand under the table, twisted it carefully, withdrawing it to herself slightly and screamed the words inside her head that would reverse the spell she had put on them so many months ago.

The room stood silent for what felt like forever as a fog wafted over the two adults. Hermione looked to Malfoy who gave her a nod of confirmation and Hermione waited for her parents to speak.

"Hermione…?" her mum said, confusion etched deep within the slight lines on her face.

"Yes, it's me…" she said, uncertain as to whether or not she remembered who she was.

"I… I'm confused, darling, what is going on?" she directed her question to her husband who looked just as confused as she was.

"I'm not too sure love, I feel strange" he said.

"I can explain everything" Hermione said.

"I think you ought to" her mother said, still confused.

"So, as you know, I am Hermione…" she began.

"Of course we know who you are, you're our daughter" her father said.

"Wait, hang on, I know she's our daughter but, I sort of feels like she isn't" her mum said.

"I will explain everything. You remember what happened when I was eleven, some people came to the house and explained that I was a witch and had to go away. Do you both remember that?" she asked, trying to gauge how quickly their memories were coming back.

They both nodded, silently urging her to go on.

"So, I wasn't exactly honest with you during my years at Hogwarts. I told you things were fine, but they weren't. There was a war brewing and the leader of the war, Voldemort, was recruiting people to hunt muggle borns. I was particularly vulnerable because I was friends with Harry, who Voldemort was trying to kill…" she said, hoping they were keeping up.

"The war broke out at the end of my sixth year when the headmaster was killed, and I had to send you both away to keep you safe. I… I did some magic on you both in hopes that if you forgot who you were, who I was, there would be no association with me, no reason for anybody to hunt you down and kill you both. I know you've always wanted to see Australia, so I made you both believe that you were Monica and Wendel Wilkins and that you desperately wanted to settle in Australia" she finished.

"Hermione… I… I don't know what to say" her mother said as she stood, walked around the table and embraced her daughter in a hug. "It feels like it's been such a long time" her mother said.

"It's been almost a year" Hermione said.

"So, this war… what happened?" her father asked from across the table.

"Voldemort grew strong, built up an army, took over the school. Hermione, Harry and Ron went on the run, hunting various magical objects that would help kill Voldemort. If they found these objects and destroyed them, Voldemort could be defeated, and his followers would retreat. It took a long time and a lot of bad things happened in that time, but it has now been two weeks since the defeat of Voldemort and its safe enough for you both to return home" Malfoy said, realising that Hermione was not capable of coherent speech as she was now crying in her mother's arms.

"Forgive me, but I'm not sure I remember who you are" Mr Granger said.

"My apologies, my name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy" he said, standing to extent a hand to Mr Granger, who shook it.

"Malfoy… I think I remember that name… Hermione, isn't that the name of the child who bullied you?" her mother asked.

"Well… its complicated… There's loads to talk about, but he's not the same person he was before and we're actually _together_ now" Hermione said.

Her mother, who had now sat back on her seat, eyed Hermione and Malfoy cautiously.

"Well that we can deal with at a later stage, but for now, I'm just glad you're ok sweetheart" her dad said.

"I am… I'm doing ok dad" she said, leading into an extended awkward silence in which Hermione thought about how best to move forward. "Well now I guess I will help you both pack and head back to England" she said.

"Well, I think it will need some discussion. I quite like it here" her dad said.

"What? Stay in Australia?" she asked.

Her parents looked to each other, the confused look that they had when the spell was initially reversed gone, replaced by what Hermione knew to be their true selves.

"Well, sweetheart, I think we can both do some good here. Your dad is senior lecturer at the university and I'm finally doing what I've always wanted to do, tend to people's teeth who desperately need it" her mum said.

"I agree… I really do like it here. I enjoy the country and the lifestyle. This place is amazing Hermione. I don't think I could see us leaving" Mr Granger said.

"If that's what you both want…" she said. "Our home in England is still standing, I don't know if you want to lease it to someone or sell it?" Hermione asked.

"Well, sweetheart, I don't see why you couldn't live there?" her dad said, eyeing Malfoy suspiciously. "Of course, there would be rules and things we would have to enforce.

"Dad, I'm eighteen now. In my world, I've been an adult for over a year and a half" she said.

"Well, you're still our little girl so forgive me if I want you to be safe" he said sternly.

"Ok, I understand" she said, embarrassed by the admonishment from her dad.

"Well…" said Mrs Granger suddenly, after another awkward silence, "I really ought to be getting back to work" she said.

"As should I" Mr Granger said.

"So you're just going to continue with your life, as it has been, for the last year?" Hermione asked, shocked that they weren't going to give themselves some time to adjust to their new old memories.

"Hermione, dear, we have lives to live. We have responsibilities and appointments. I love you sweetheart and I'm sure that if I had remembered you this whole time, I'd have missed you greatly, but I need to continue to live as Monica Wilkins. Our lives in England are over. We left everything and set ourselves up here and we're enjoying ourselves…" she said. She reached into her bag and pulled out a notepad and a pen, scribbling down something quickly. "Here's our address. Come for tea tonight, both of you, and we'll talk more then" she said with finality, handing her the piece of paper she tore from the pad and handing it to Hermione with a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you tonight" she said.

"Ok mum, I'll see you tonight" Hermione said as both her parents exited the room and headed down the corridor.

Hermione just sat in silence for a while, taking in all that had happened over the last hour. It went quickly, but she had accomplished what she had set out to achieve.

"Do you think I should redo the memory charm?" Hermione asked Malfoy eventually.

"Why would you think that?" he asked.

"They don't want me" she said.

"Of course they do, they love you. Any fool can see that Granger. They just seem to like their life here, that's all" he said comfortingly as he placed an arm around her.

"I can't believe they're going to stay here" she said, still in disbelief.

"Well, I don't blame them. From what we've seen of this place so far, it's beautiful" he said.

"But England is their home" she said.

"So is Australia. They set up a life here Granger. They're doing some good. Let them. In a few years they may wish to go back. You never know" he said.

"I guess you're right. I did this to them, I can't be unhappy when they decide they actually like it here. Come on, let's go somewhere. This fantastic beach everyone raves about maybe" she said.

"Sounds like a great idea" Malfoy said.

A short while later, the pair were relaxing on a grassy hill beneath a lighthouse, eating ice-creams from a cone. If they looked out to the south, they saw a beach that extended in a curve all the way to what they had come to know was the Steel Works. Turning around, there was another smaller light house, a boat harbour and more beaches that continued around to various points in the distance. The sand was a bright off-white colour and the water was a light bright blue. The waves were coming in and washing over the sand before heading back out and repeating the process. Hermione could see the appeal. This place was actually quite nice. There were apartment blocks that towered above the streets just back from the coast. The city of Wollongong loomed just beyond that.

"I can understand why they like it here" she said.

"It's a great place" Malfoy agreed.

"I suppose we can come and visit anytime" she said.

"I think _you_ can visit. I'm not quite sure they approve of me" he said.

"They just don't know you like it do" she said.

"I would hope not" he said, rolling over and kissing her gently.

"You're so dirty minded" Hermione said after some snogging in which various onlookers tut tutted.

"I love you so much Granger" Malfoy said, brushing some hair away from her face that had been caught up in their moment.

"I love you too" she said, kissing him once more.

Xxxxx

That night, Hermione and Draco had tea at her parents' house, discussing all the finer details of the war, the things she had left out during her school years, even the part about Hermione being snatched. Her parents were shocked to hear of all the things she had been through and even more shocked to see that the _mudblood_ engraving on their daughter's arm was still quite prevalent. Hermione explained a lot about Malfoy and how his thoughts and beliefs had changed in the last few months. They spoke about their plans for summer school and work training with the ministry. Her parents were pleased to her that she had intentions to finish her schooling and goals for herself to work towards. It was comforting to know that they were still invested in her life and still interested to know what she was doing. It set Hermione's mind at ease when, several days later, she bid her parents farewell to head back to England.

"I can't believe how quickly you can travel. It would take us a whole day and a night to get to England, but you can do it in a snap" said her mother.

"Well, we can't just apparate home. It could be done, I suppose, but it's quite dangerous. It's just better that we've come to Canberra to take a port key. Thank you, but the way, you didn't have to drive us here" Malfoy said.

"It's our pleasure. We've been able to see our daughter more and get to know the person who had been taking such good care of her" Mrs Granger said, as they stood outside the innocent looking building.

"Now, Hermione, I want you to take this…" said her father, handing her an envelope, "But don't open it till you get home, understand?" he said.

"Ok, but dad, if its money, I don't…" she began.

"Nonsense, you've lived alone for twelve months and thankfully have been supported by those around you. You used all your own savings to save your kind from the war. This is a small gift that I can give, from father to daughter. Besides, it's yours anyway. We've been putting it aside since you were born. It's about time you have it. We've forgotten it even existed till just this week" he said.

"Well, alright. Thank you" she said, hugging both her parents. Malfoy extended his hand to them, but they both pulled him in for a hug too.

"Thank you for taking care of our daughter" Mr Granger said.

"It's my pleasure" Malfoy said, "I promise I'll continue to look after her as long as she will allow me to" he said.

"Well, you make an honest woman out of her then" Mr Granger whispered in his ear as he released him from their manly hug. Malfoy just nodded as he picked up their feux luggage and headed into the building in front of them.

Hermione took one last glance at her parents and waved before entering the building and closing the door behind them. The hustle and bustle of the transportation service was busier than when they had arrived a week earlier.

Hermione was becoming increasingly nervous now, wondering what their future would hold.

Her parents signed ownership of the house over to Hermione, but she had no idea what to do with it. Should she live there? Or live with Malfoy in the cottage? She had no idea, but she had to decide quickly as they had joined the end of the line to submit their destination request.

"So, what happens now?" she asked him.

"Well, I suppose we tell them where we're going, and they get us as close to that place as possible. Then we make our way from there" he said.

"No, I mean, longer term. Where do I go? Where do I live? I just need to be clear about what happens now" she said.

"Well, stay with me" he said.

"What about my house?" she asked.

"I'll stay with you then. Sell my house. Granger I want to be with you" he said… "In fact…" he pulled her by the arm, over to a part of the busy centre that was not so busy.

"Hey, we lost our place in the line" he said.

"I don't care. Granger… Hermione… I want to be with you" he said, reaching into his pocket. "I know that when I gave you the ring that's on your finger I said it was a promise to someday ask you to marry me, but I can't wait any longer. I know what I want, and I want you. I want to be by your side forever and I want you to agree to marry me. I can give you anything in the world, but I know you don't need it. All I want to give you is my heart" he said, holding the ring out for her. "Hemione Jean Granger, will you marry me?" he asked.

Hermione stood in shock. Of course she wanted to marry him, but as she looked around at all the people who were now gawking at them, she suddenly felt very shy.

"I… Of course I want to marry you, but we've been together less than a month. What if you get sick of me? What if I do things that annoy you? What if…" she was cut short by Malfoy kissing her.

"Hermione, I will never get sick of you. If you do something to annoy me, I'll leave the room. There is nothing in the world you could do that would push me away. I love you. Marry me, please Granger" he said.

"Ok… yes, I'll marry you" she said, a tear in her eye as he carefully slid the ring onto her finger. As they embraced, everyone in the room began clapping, some people shooting sparks from their wands. Hermione just laughed and held on to Malfoy tighter, looking at the ring he had just place don her finger. It wasn't overly exuberant, but it wasn't minimalistic either. She could tell that he had spent quite a lot of money on it and a fair amount of time choosing it.

"Where did you get this ring from? Its unbelievably stunning" she said.

"Your parents helped me choose it" he said. "This morning when we stopped for supplies and you went to the bathroom, we went into the jeweller and they helped me choose it. I asked their permission and everything. I wanted to do this right" he said.

"Well congratulations, you did it perfectly" she said.

The two of them headed back to the line and the people at the beginning ushered them forward.

"Come on you two lovebirds, can't have ya hanging around here after all that… Get up the front" said the man in his thick Aussie accent.

"Thank you, that's very kind of you" Hermione said.

"Any time love…. Hang on a minute… I think I know ya. You from England?" he asked.

"Yes, we are" she said.

"You're that girl who helped win the war" he said.

"Well, stone the flamin crows, it is too. Hermione Granger!" said another man, looking above the shoulder of the first.

"I am, and this is Draco Malfoy" she said.

"Unlikely pairing, but congratulations, both of ya" said the first man.

"Thank you" said Malfoy, extending his hand, which the man shook immediately.

They approached the bench when it was their turn and explained to the woman where they wanted to go. The closest they could get was the ministry of magic, but they were alright with that. They could just apparate the rest of the way.

They followed the instructions they were given, heading down a hall to a room that was marked "The UK". The room had a table in the middle which had an oversized dinner plate on it and around the walls were seats where half a dozen other people sat waiting.

"Ok, Larry, we have enough to send on this trip, get them ready" said one of the attendants.

"Righto… Ok you lot, you all used a port key before?" the man named Larry asked.

Everyone around the room nodded, Hermione and Malfoy included.

"Right, then its due to depart when this clock counts down" he waved his wand and a digital clock appeared on the wall, counting down from 30 seconds. "Everyone get up when you can and place a finger on the port key" he said.

Hermione and Malfoy stood immediately, stepping forward to the table and getting ready to place a finger on the plate. As the clock counted down, the other people in the room did the same and when the plate started to glow blue, Hermione and Malfoy placed a finger upon it along with everyone else, closed their eyes, and they were pulled into oblivion.

Hermione opened her eyes to the familiar announcement voice of the Ministry of Magic in England.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please present your wand for checking and have your bags ready for inspection" the disembodied voice said.

The pair followed the line of people out of the room, down a corridor and into the bag and wand checking room. They passed through with ease and headed out into the auditorium which was strangely full of people in their best wizarding clothes.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked Draco.

"Not sure, we should ask someone" he said.

They headed over to where the crowd was mostly gathered and saw that a table had been set up in front of a doorway that didn't previously exist. Above the table, a sign was displaying ' _marriages'_. As they neared the table to ask what was going on, a witch handed Malfoy a clipboard and self-inking quill.

"Fill your information out and you'll save your spot in the line" she said.

"What line? What is this?" he asked, looking down at the questionnaire in front of him.

"Oh, you're not here for this? Well, turns out there's been a lot of people trying to get married lately, you know, seize the day and what not. So we've had to open up an easy marriage option for people who just want to make it official" she said, putting her hand out for the clipboard to be returned.

"Hang on…" Hermione said, stopping the woman from taking the clipboard, "You wanted to get married, right?" she asked Draco.

"I wouldn't have asked otherwise" he said.

"So… let's get married" she said, taking the clipboard from him and sitting in a nearby seat.

"You want to?" he asked in disbelief.

"It has to be a sign, Draco. You just asked me to marry you and not thirty minutes later, there is a marriage registry that we stumble across in the auditorium of the ministry of magic" she said.

"Let's get married then" he said, sitting next to her, kissing her on the temple.

Hermione filled out the paperwork quickly and secured their place in the line. They sat impatiently waiting for their names to be called and the whole time Hermione wondered if she was doing the right thing. The argument that she had given to Malfoy minutes earlier had now left her mind and she wondered if she were out of her mind to do this here, now, without their friends and family. She thought about walking away, about planning a big wedding with everyone around, but at the end of it all, she wanted to be married to Malfoy and it didn't matter if people were there or not, it didn't matter who witnessed it, who saw it, who supported it, she would marry him either way, sooner or later.

"Granger and Malfoy" came a voice from the room adjacent to where they sat. Hermione and Draco looked at each other smiled, joined hands and walked towards the doorway. "You two ready to do this?" the man asked.

"Absolutely" said Draco.

"Definitely" said Hermione.

"Well, right this way" he said, leading the way.

 **AN- WOW! That was a quick engagement! What do you all think? Snaps for whoever knows where "Stone the flamin crows" comes from. Let me know in the reviews if you know. Also, if you cant tell, i'm from the Wollongong area originally and thought it would be an amazing place for them to visit. Where the mountains touch the sea. Truly some amazing things to see, do and experience in the Gong. There is a Quidditch team that is based in the University of Wollongong in the wizarding world too apparently. Has anyone heard of Wollongong before now? Interesting to know.**


	17. Chapter 17

Hermione laid in the arms of her husband, in the house where she grew up, feeling completely sated and satisfied. He had just given her multiple orgasms, utilising every technique he knew to show his wife how much he loved her. Hermione had attempted a few tricks of her own that she had heard of in the past which were quite successful. The pair laid in Hermione's bed, waiting for their racing heartbeats to slow enough for them to get up and arrange something for tea.

Hermione rolled over, facing Draco, and ran her fingers through the sporadic hairs on his chest.

"I am absolutely starving" she said.

"Me too… Shall we order take out?" he asked.

"Oh, absolutely. There is a Chinese place that delivers" she said, standing on her wobbly legs and wrapping her dressing gown around herself.

"Hmm, Chinese for a wedding dinner. Sounds just about right" Draco said.

"When everything settles, after we finish school and everything, we will have a big reception and invite everyone we know. We'll fly my parents over and cut a cake and do a dance. It will be magical. I'm just happy that I'm your wife, sooner rather than later. This just feels right" she said.

"It certainly does, _Mrs Malfoy"_ he said.

Hermione giggled and headed out the room, calling back to him, "That might take some time to get used to" she said.

She went downstairs and rummaged in the drawer for the leaflet for the restaurant. When she found it, she used the phone to order a banquet that included a selection of the best dishes they had to offer. It was always what her parents had ordered and they knew her address before she gave it to them. It felt good to be home. While she waited for the food to arrive, she sat down with a pen and paper to write a letter to Harry. She didn't know how to tell him in person, so she thought that a letter would be best. She heard the shower turn on and began to write her letter.

 _Dear Harry,  
We were successfully able to return my parents memories, but they chose to remain in Australia. They're happy there and are doing some fantastic work in the area they're living in. They signed the house over to me, so that is where we'll be staying from now on. Just have a few things to do to the house so it feels like my home rather than theirs, if that makes sense. Theres something I need to tell you but I don't know how best to do so. I cant tell you face to face because I am afraid that you will judge me too soon. Draco and I got married today when we arrived back in London. He proposed so beautifully while were I Australia and it seemed like a sign that the ministry was doing weddings when we got there via port key. Its all very strange and surreal, I don't know how I feel about being Hermione Mlfoy just yet, but I assume it will grow on me. This time has poven to me, more than anything else, that Draco is a new man, he is the one I want to be with forever. Our relationship is incredibly strong and there is nothing in this world that could tear us apart. Please feel welcome to visit at any time. My home is open to you all. I hope this letter finds you well. Please extend my best wishes to Ron, Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys.  
Love Hermione._

Hermione carefully folded the letter, placed it in a box and sat it in the fireplace.

"Do you know what you're doing?" came Draco's voice from the stairs.

"Hi there" she said. "I think so. I don't have an owl yet, so I thought I would send this via floo" she said.

He walked over to where she crouched beside the firepace and took the floo powder from her hand.

"Where is it going?" he asked.

"The Burrow… The Weasley's" she said.

He dropped the floo powder into the fireplace and spoke clearly "The Burrow" and the box disappeared into green flames.

"That was great" she said.

"Not the most reliable way to send a letter, but 9 times out of 10, it does the job. Was that a letter to Potter?" he asked.

"I figured I had to tell him sooner rather than later" she said.

The pair sat in the living room, as Hermione emptied her little beaded bag contents onto the coffee table. She handed all of Dracos things to him and placed all of hers into a pile.

"I know this place isn't exactly what you're used to, but I think it will be good for us. We can do it up anyway we like, we can get the stuff from the cottage and bring it here to make it our own. We can repaint and redecorate… This is your place now as much as it is mine" Hermione said.

"I'm happy wherever you're happy Hermione" he said.

"I'm just happy im with you" she said, getting up to the sound of the doorbell.

She paid for the food and brought it in to the dining room where they spoke about the future while eating their meal. Malfoy had decided that it would be best for him to finish school with Hermione and do the training at least part time. He had no desire to work full time, however he knew that part time work would mean he can earn a living while still having the time for luxuries. Hermione felt like everything had begun to come into fruition exactly the way she wanted it. She only hoped that it would stay on this course and she could remain this happy forever.

 **Xxxxxxxx**

 **DRACOS POV**

The next day, the couple spent most of the morning in bed before having a late breakfast and heading out the cottage to grab some supplies. They had done several trips to and from the cottage with various items that they felt they needed to take to their new home. It wasn't at all what he was used to, but Draco felt a homely vibe in what was the Grangers family home. He would have ordinarily felt unease at the idea of not living in a grand house with land as far as he could see and a house elf to keep their expansive home clean, however, the thought of living in a regular sized home with the woman he loved was just perfect for him. He had renounced his old ways completely and was seizing every opportunity to show Hermione how much he loved her. When Hermione was removing the sheets from their bed, he playfully threw her down, quickly removed her pants and showed her with his tongue just how much he loved her. This was followed by an incredible blow job, then some pretty amazing sex. He had taken this innocent little Gryffindor and turned her into a sexy vixen. She was far sexier than she knew and every moment he was with her, it took all of his energy to keep from tearing her clothes off.

Draco was removing the blankets and sheets from the bed in the spare room when Hermione called out to him that she was taking the next load back.

"Ok, I'll see you back here soon" he said.

"I'll bring some lunch" she called from the living room and he smiled to himself as he called back "Sounds great" as she left with a crack.

Everything that Granger did, made him realise more and more how incredibly lucky he had been to have her come into his life the way that she did. Granted, he hated what his crazy aunt had done to her, but getting to know her the way he did, changed his whole life. Gave him the opportunity to realise what he knew all along, is that his family were wrong. He had always thought so, deep down in the back of his mind, but he had never allowed himself to think it. Now, there was not a single part of him that agreed with the pure blood nonsense or that thought muggle borns were scum. He had seen Hermione's blood and it was no different to his own. She had proven time and time again that she was as smart and smarter than most pure blood witches and wizards around, even adult ones. She had outsmarted many of the great powerful people he had known in his life and come out the other end far better than anyone else ever could.

He took the opportunity to sit in the living room, waiting for her before he took the next load over to the house. It seemed bizarre that they hardly ever spent time apart and he felt that maybe she needed time on her own. He wandered around the cottage that he had never felt like calling home and tapped his foot as he stared at the clock. She had been gone for half an hour by now and he was growing anxious. He tried to tell himself that she was just making sandwiches, but something felt off to him. He picked up another load and with a crack, disapparated to the house.

"Granger?" he called when he arrived.

There was no answer. He headed into the kitchen and saw that she must have been here making lunch and assumed he had just missed her. From somewhere behind him, he heard the creek of a floorboard and turned thinking it was Hermione. He didn't get a chance to see who was there before something hit him in the chest and he was instantly thrown into darkness.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Draco opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. The room was familiar, although he couldn't quite place it. He looked around and saw Slytherin posters hung all around the walls and anti-muggle pictures too. He wanted to vomit, but held it in as the door across the room opened.

"Wait… I know you… But you're in jail. You're supposed to be in jail" he said weakly as he struggled against binds that held his wrists in place.

"Yes, well I'm quite convincing when I want to be… ' _oh please, I didn't know what I was doing, I promise I just want to be a good citizen and live an average life'._ Pathetic excuse for a jury believed me. After I was the one responsible for the snatching of loads of traitors. Ah well, best not to dwell ay" he said.

"Where is Hermione?" Draco demanded, anger rising up inside him.

"Oh don't worry, we didn't harm her. She had no idea we were there. You just missed her in fact. She left as soon as you arrived. Perfect timing really" he said.

"So you're a snatcher. What is your task?" Draco asked.

"My job is to track down all the blood traitors, the ones who turned to the other side when things got a little bit tough. You are my number one priority and it didn't take me long to find you at all, no no it didn't" he said. "If you and the rest of em hadn't betrayed the dark lord then he wouldn't have been defeated would he?" he continued.

"Yes he would have. You have no idea how far we went to defeat him. Its far beyond your level of comprehension anyway probably" Draco said, copping a kick to the side for good measure.

"I best be going to get the mistress anyway… I'll be back. Don't go anywhere…. Wait, you cant" he said with an evil laugh.

Draco lay there for almost half an hour thinking of what kind of predicament he was in now. He realised shortly after he woke that he was at his family's holiday house in Belgium and he did not have his wand nearby.

He listened for any sounds outside of his room, but he could only hear muffled voices.

He was snatched. At the mercy of unintelligent, unskilled wizards who were still declared their allegiance to Voldemort, even though he was dead.

When he thought that nobody was coming he heard high heeled footsteps approaching. As the door opened, he was shocked to see who was standing in the doorway.

"Draco, my boy, how I have missed you" said the soft motherly voice of Narcissa Malfoy.

"Mum, what are you doing? Did they snatch you too?" he asked.

"No son, I arranged for them to pick you up. I need you to see the truth" she said, placing her hand inside her robe and retrieving her wand.

"What are you doing? I know the truth. You can see it too if you try" he said, scared of what she might do to him.

"I know the truth. I've known the truth all along Draco. We need to follow the plan. We need to continue to rid the world of those who aren't as pure as we are" she said.

"That's crazy. Theres no difference mum. I've seen it. Hermione, shes perfect. Shes the smartest witch I know and a muggle born. There is no difference. None" he said.

"So ts true then, you have been spending your time with that muggle born?" she asked.

"We got married" he said.

"Married? To a muggle born? I will absolutely not accept that Draco" she screamed.

"Too late, it's done. We got married yesterday" he said.

She pulled out her wand and pointed it in the direction of her son. Draco looked into her eyes and saw what she was going to do before she did it. He only wished he had something to hold onto to lead him back afterwards, but he had nothing. He shut his eyes and waited as the warmth spread over him and the words to echo in his head.

" _Draco, you will call Hermione and tell her you've left. The wedding was a mistake and you're never coming back. You can see the truth and it is as it has been all along. Do this and we will leave her be. Do this, and she is safe. After the call, you will forget all about your relationship with her and it will be as though you never saw her in the cellar. Your allegiance will once again be with your family. You won't remember this conversation, only what you have to do_ "

He tried to block out the voice, however it was no use. He was completely under his mother's spell.

When the voice stopped, Draco stopped resisting against the binds that held him.

"Mother, will you please release me, I have a call to make" he said, knowing what he had to do.

As she did, he got up, hugged his mother and headed to the main room of the house, where he was greeted by several snatchers and other death eaters who had escaped after the battle.

He picked up the phone that had always been for emergencies only and took a piece of parchment that was offered to him, containing the phone number of Hermione Granger. He dialled the number and waited.

"Hello?" she asked, panting.

"Hermione?" he asked, initially struggling to speak. There was a hesitation in the way he spoke to her. Almost as though he didn't want to tell her what he absolutely was certain he had to.

"Draco? Where are you? What happened?" she asked, panicked.

"I'm fine, I'm being taken care of"

"What does that mean? Where are you?"

"I'm somewhere safe. You don't need to know"

"I've been looking for you everywhere. Come home, I love you"

"It's not my home Hermione. This whole thing was a mistake. I shouldn't have saved you from the cellar, I shouldn't have helped you win the war, I shouldn't have married you. I'm sorry. I can see how stupid I was to do all those things and now I'm making up for it. You won't be harmed as long as you stay away. Don't try and find me"

"But we got married yesterday. Draco! Draco? Please, tell me… What's happened?" she was crying now, hysterically. Malfoy felt an odd twinge in his stomach, his heart was beating incredibly fast, but he couldn't stop what he was doing. He knew he didn't believe it, he knew he loved her, but the overwhelming drive to continue with what he was saying was stronger than any other urge he has ever felt before in his life.

"I saw the light Hermione" he said before hanging up.

"Good boy Draco, now… Who is Hermione Granger?" Narcissa Malfoy asked.

"Hermione Granger is a filthy little mudblood who has no place among us pure blood wizards" he said, believing every word of what he was saying.

 **AN- OMFG RIGHT?!**


	18. Chapter 18

Draco was managing the store that was previously known as Borgin and Burkes. It was now simply, Malfoy's antiques. It had been 7 years since he had re-joined his family, and in that time, he had opened several store fronts across all of Europe. It had taken him until now to acquire the Knockturn Alley storefront, however, as the owners were quite resistant. He had originally attempted to purchase the store from them, however when that failed, he had his followers kill them.

In the last few years, Draco had built himself a reputation as being someone you do not want to mess with. He had the money and the means to do anything he wanted to and over the last few years, through a lot of advanced study, had become quite a powerful wizard.

He had wondered idly, why his family had chosen to relocate overseas, not having returned to England until now. It felt odd to him to be back after such a long absence. His mother warned him to stay away from Diagon Alley, advising him that the good still outranked the pure, however, he knew that he had to do his banking at some point and refused to travel with a bag full of Galleons.

He closed the shop early, at the end of the first week and walked towards the stone stairway that would take him to Diagon Ally. He was not afraid and carried himself with arrogance and power that he knew he possessed. No one would dare to cross him.

He walked across the busy square, heading for the bank, looking down his nose at everyone who surrounded him. He knew he was above the lot of them. The scum who walked this earth and called themselves wizards, had no place here. The sooner he could carry out the plan that his family was developing and do away with all but pure blood witches and wizards, the better it would be for everyone. He entered the bank, demanding that the head goblin serve him. They were frightened of him, so they complied.

"Mr Malfoy, how pleasant to see you back in our lovely establishment once again" said the Goblin.

"Yes, well I need to deposit my weekly takings" he said, "And quickly, I don't have time to mess around".

"Absolutely sir. I'll have it weighed and receipted immediately" the goblin said, taking the bag and emptying it onto some rather large brass scales. "Am I correct in calculating two hundred and seventy-five galleons, twenty sickles and forty-two knuts?"

"If that's what you have then that's what there is. Now issue me a receipt so I can be on my way" he said impatiently, knowing that this was the only way to deal with these types of creatures. Unfortunately, he had to find a way to work alongside these non-humans, however much he would like to get rid of them too. They serve a purpose which cannot be overlooked.

Draco was given a piece of parchment with the gringots stamp on it that detailed the amount of his transaction. He snatched it from the goblin before exiting the building and stepping out into the sun. It was early summer, and the sun was beginning to burn. He still wore his long black cloak everywhere with his black suit underneath and this was making him hot. He couldn't wait to get home and rid himself of the clothes that had felt like they strangled him of late.

He stood in the middle of the street, looking around at disgust at the pathetic excuses for witched and wizards who walked past, going about their day when he caught sight of one he recognised. He had grown to hate this witch with every fibre of his being, yet deep inside of him, the sight of her sparked something in the put of his stomach. Excitement? Desire? Surely not. She hadn't noticed him, so he followed her, hoping this would be his opportunity to finally get the one person he has been wanting to capture since he end of the war.

Hermione Granger entered the book store, Flourish and Blotts, and he carefully followed her, ensuring she wouldn't see him. Every time he caught sight of her, the twisting, aching sensation in his stomach increased. His mind was full of hatred for the woman, dressed in navy and black, but for some reason, he couldn't attack her immediately. Choosing instead to stalk her, watch her, find her weak spot. She browsed the isles, greeting people happily as she went. Some children walked by, eyes wide as the took in Draco's appearance but softening as they rounded the corner, greeting the mudblood with "Hello professor". Draco was taken aback at this, not understanding how this mudblood could be in a position of power and influence over the minds and thoughts of young pure blood wizards.

Draco couldn't stand it much longer, he came out from the isle where he was watching her between books and coughed intentionally, alerting her to the fact he was there. She didn't appear startled, but the look on her face was confusing to him.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"What are you doing, teaching at Hogwarts?" he asked, unsure as to where this conversation was going.

"It's none of your business. Not anymore" she said.

"You're right, Hogwarts hasn't been my business since I left, but I have a vested interest in the future of every witch and wizard who attends" he said, looking her up and down, still put off by the odd feeling in the put of his stomach.

"You have no right to be asking me anything _Malfoy_. How about you scurry back to your precious little shop and leave me alone" she said, hurt radiating from her every word.

He looked at her, into her eyes, searching her mind for a hint of something he could use. What he found confused him. Her memories were blurred at first, Hogwarts occupied most of them. There were some memories that he found alarming however. He saw her hunched in a ball in the kitchen of a small house that he felt he recognised but couldn't place. She lay in a bed crying, night after night. There was a ring that she wore, and she threw into a safe and placed it in her Gringots Vault. Ever so briefly, his face flashed in and out of her mind, but never anything solid that he could place. He thought idly that she had some school girl fantasy that never came to fruition.

"Get out of my head" she spat at him, turning to leave. He caught her arm, trying to figure out how she knew that he could see her thoughts.

"Don't ever tell me what to do, you filthy little…"

SLAP

Hermione slapped him hard across the face before he could finish his insult.

"After everything… You want to call me that? How dare you? You leaving with nothing but a phone call was one thing, but now, seven years later, you stalk me in a bookstore, invade my head and call me names? I don't think so. Try it again and I'll have you arrested and thrown into Azkaban!" she spat, tearing her arm away from him and exiting the store.

It had been the single biggest insult to his ego he had ever experienced. To be slapped and spoken to like that from someone like _her_ was not acceptable. And the thing she said about the phone call. He left with nothing but a phone call seven years ago? It seemed odd to him. He had only gotten a phone in the last few years when the muggle minister decided they needed to make their electricity compatible with magic.

He left, heading home to think this through alone. Malfoy Manor was quiet at this time of the year. The death eaters were off on various missions, remaining quiet but biding time until he, Draco, decided it was time to take over the muggle world.

As he sat in his rather large and elaborate arm chair drinking his firewhisky, he replayed in his mind, the things he saw in the mudbloods head.

She had thrown a ring away into a safe, she had cried a lot, images of his face flashed in and out of those memories but never long enough for him to make out what they were about. Then there were the things she had said about him leaving. It made no sense to him. None of it did. He wanted to find out more, to delve deep down into her mind and retrieve the images of his face that had barely been visible, however he also wanted her dead. She was, after all, a muggleborn.

He fell asleep that night, the same as he had every other night: drunk. He had been offered the company of one of the women who often throw themselves at him, but he refused. It was always the same ones, desperate for a way to get to the top, trying to sleep their way there. If he was honest with himself, he had never come across a woman who he had taken a liking to. It was beginning to be a point of contention with his mother, who had insisted that he finally agree to marry Pansy Parkinson. That would be all well and good, except Pansy Parkinson was the most vapid and uninteresting person he had ever met. She was a good shag, she was great in fact, but the conversation went nowhere. He was never stimulated enough.

That night, his dreams were plagued with visions of Granger. She was on a train, looking out the window at what appeared to be an amazing view of the ocean. She was smiling in a way he hadn't ever seen before. Carefree and happy. She placed a hand on his leg and he didn't retreat. Instead, he took her hand in his and kissed it. Another dream he had was of her in a dark damp room laying on a filthy bed. She was crying, begging him to help her. He tried to say no, but some compulsion deep within him made him help. He felt like there was a part of him that wanted her to survive, that had to help.

He woke suddenly and wanted to slap himself for those dreams. How could his mind create such unrealistic circumstances? It was now morning, so he got into the shower and washed the firewhisky stench from his pores.

He dressed slowly and left Malfoy Manor, heading for Malfoy's Antiques.

The day went slow, due to it being a weekend. He spent most of the day unconsciously thinking about Granger, then slapping himself for doing so. It really improved the bruise she had left there the day before.

He left the store in the afternoon when he hadn't had customers for an hour and wandered Diagon Ally, wondering what small children he might scare away today. He entered the book store, not expecting to see anyone and feeling slightly disappointed when he didn't see Granger. He continued to admonish himself for these bizarre thoughts he was having.

As he left and headed for the pet parlour, he saw her walking towards him. When she spotted him, her face was a mixture of shock, anger and hurt. He couldn't understand it.

She didn't change her course, but continued right for where he stood, watching her.

"Are you stalking me Malfoy?" she asked when she neared.

"Why would I stalk you?" he spat, "I work here" he indicated down the lane to knockturn alley.

"Right, of course you do. Your little acquisition made headlines in the daily prophet, you should be proud" she said.

"I am" he said, looking again, into her eyes to see what he might find today.

She stared as eagerly back, showing him some clear images this time. She was in a cellar and he was there, he bandaged an oozing word on her arm with a tenderness he couldn't understand himself having. He brought her food, held her hand as he ran with her to the gate of Malfoy Manor, he slept beside her at night, he held her in his arms, stroked her hair, touched her, felt himself inside of her and watched with satisfaction as she came undone all around him. When he told her he loved her, he closed his eyes and shook his head, dragging himself out of her head.

"What is this?" he asked, confused. It was clearly made up.

She said nothing, instead looked at him with fury coursing through her body.

"What, can't handle the truth?" she spat.

"What are you talking about?" he asked angrily, confused.

"Obviously denial is how you deal with things. Good for you" she said, as she began to walk away.

Before she could take a step, he grabbed her arm and yanked up her sleeve, revealing a faint pink outline of the word _mudblood_. He left go, shock registering on his face. If it was real, if he had seen that in her mind, why did he not remember?

He looked at her face, shock still registering.

She looked back, equally as stunned.

"You don't remember, do you?" she said quietly.

"Remember what?" he asked.

"You don't remember any of it… The cellar, the cottage, Australia? The wedding?" she said.

Regaining his composure, he brought himself up to full height.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" he said.

"Someone has most likely modified your memory" she said, fearfully.

"No one would dare" he said.

"Let me tell you this one thing then, if you don't remember any of it, you're either crazy, or someone had tampered with your brain _Malfoy"_ she said, taking one last glance at him before walking away.

He remained standing there for several minutes before turning on the spot and apparating home. He paced the corridors, running through the scenarios that she had shown him in her mind. As he went though them one by one, he recognised one of the places she showed him. He ran through the Manor and down into the basement. He almost flew down the steps before he yanked the door of the cellar open. He stared in disbelief at the small dark damp room that contained a single bed with a bathroom off to the side – the same as what she had shown him in her memories. Surely, she had to be wrong. She must have come here when he wasn't here. She must be tricking him. Must be making these things up in her mind. But then, how could she? How could she trick him? He was one of the most powerful wizards of the decade.

The other things didn't make sense though, the way he held her tenderly in her memories, stroked her hair, made _love_ to her in a way he hadn't with anybody, ever. How could she show him these things if they never existed? How could she make them up? There was no reasonable answer. Either, she was right, and his memory had been modified, or she was making it all up somehow, proving to be more powerful than he, in a rouse to make him vulnerable. Either way, he had to get to the bottom of it, quickly.


	19. Chapter 19

He woke with a start the following morning, determined to get to the bottom of all of this. He showered and dressed quickly, apparating across the sea to Belgium where his mother had been living. He arrived on her doorstep right around the time he knew she ate her breakfast, ensuring she would be home.

"Draco, what are you doing here so early?" she asked.

"I need to discuss something with you urgently"

"Come in, I've just made some crumpets"

"I'm not here for your crumpets mother, I've come or answers" he demanded, making her cringe with fear. It had been interesting how quickly he had managed to become stronger and more powerful than his own mother had ever thought she could be. He knew he would be able to get the answers from her with a little persuasion.

"Ok then my son, come and take a seat in the kitchen while I finish up" she said.

He followed her through the house he had called his home for the previous 6 years, and into the kitchen. He took a seat at the breakfast bar, staring her down until she turned to face him.

"What's the matter Draco?" she asked.

"Who is here in the house?" he asked her.

"Just me this morning" she said. He looked into her eyes and knew she wasn't lying. It had become his most notable achievement, his ability to determine with one look if someone was lying.

"I ran into Hermione Granger yesterday. And the day before" he said. The look on his mother's face said it all. He didn't react, however, letting it play out to see what she would do.

"What did you do to her? Remember I said she is best left to the death eaters?" she said in the most offhand manner she could muster.

"I more so bumped into her in the book store. She asked me what I was doing there, I told her it wasn't her business to know. Then I tried to read her mind, figure out how best to capture her but all I saw were just strange memories of things that she had done in the past. Nothing major" he said casually.

"Well, that's good then. I'm glad you didn't make a scene. The last thing we need is anybody knowing what we're planning" she said, not looking up from her breakfast.

"No, you're right. Best not to make a scene" he said, taking a piece of fruit from the fruit bowl, polishing it with his sleeve and taking a bite. "I did bump into her again though, yesterday" he said, looking at his mother, waiting for her to look up so he could determine her emotions.

She glanced up briefly, but it was enough for him to know she had done something.

"What happened then?" she asked, fear radiating from her.

"She purposely showed me some visions. Ordinarily, I would assume they're memories, but this time it didn't make sense" he said, trying to keep the casual tone in his voice. He had become callous in the way he dealt with his mother. She was nothing but a woman to him, he had no ties to her at all.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, some of these visions included me. But that's ridiculous because I didn't remember any of them" he said, not taking his eyes off the top of her head as she continued staring down into her breakfast.

"She's obviously making it up" she said.

"Well that's what I thought, but there were things she showed me that she couldn't possibly have shown me unless they happened. Not only that, do you really think that a muggle born witch could outsmart _me_?" he said.

"I don't understand what you're asking me for, Draco" she said, finally looking up at him.

"You're lying" he said, boring his grey eyes into hers.

"How dare you…?" she growled.

"NO! How dare _you!_ ". He yelled to her face, making her withdraw into herself. She had never looked so small. Not even when his father had yelled at her, not even when he had hit her.

"Draco, I…" she began.

"I don't even think I want to hear it. What was it? Obliviate? Memory modification? Imperious? No? Something different?" he said as he listed them one by one, seeing the truth in her eyes. "So, if I wanted to reverse the spell, I could just use priori incantatem? No? How do I…?" he asked, attempting to troll through her mind, something that even Voldemort himself had never been able to do. As he used all of his skill to attempt to get into her thoughts, he saw briefly flashes of memories. He saw himself, tethered to a bed, he saw himself standing by a phone in the very kitchen where he now sat.

"Fine. I'll tell you. But you're not going to like it" she said.

"Tell me" he said.

"We had the girl here for two months. We were not allowed to leave, on the dark lord's orders, but you… you didn't belong. Not really. I could tell you were scared. Your thoughts wandered, your dreams were restless. The dark lord had us in a very vulnerable position. We had a lot to prove after your father's arrest. You helped the girl escape and I did everything I could to make the dark lord believe that she had taken _you_ as her captor. He believed me until he saw you with her, the night at Hogwarts. He was furious and took it out on your father. He killed him with an intentional stray spell just before Potter killed him. I was so afraid Draco. I wanted you to be alive so badly, I lied to the dark lord, I told him that the boy was dead, but he was alive. When the dark lord was killed, and I realised your dad was dead too, I surrendered. My trial was a non-event and I was released because I could provide them with names of people who did things in the name of the dark lord. I didn't see you or hear from you for the longest time. I thought you were dead. I had someone on the girl's house, watching to see if she would go home, waiting to see if you were with her. It turned out you were. You were all caught up in her lies and in the pull of her sexuality, that you couldn't see what you had seen your whole life. I had someone wait for you and bring you here as soon as you were alone. It wasn't easy, it had to be timed perfectly. I had learned of a spell, similar to the imperious, but not as easily defected. I had you make a call to her, tell her it was over and tell her you wouldn't see her again. I made you remember the things you had thought and felt before she made you see things differently. I didn't know that you were married until it was too late" she said, exhaling…

Draco sat in shocked silence, as he took in this information.

"How do you reverse the spell?" he asked quietly, anger taking his voice to a level that was almost inaudible.

"I have to die. That's the only way" she said.

He sat, taking in the sight of his mother. He now had to decide between reversing the spell, remembering a month of a relationship that he could not, at present, imagine ever living.

"You've built a life for yourself Draco. You are the founder of Malfoys Antiques. You own many many stores around all of Europe and now you have the best store in all of Britain. I've given you a life, you've never wanted for anything" she said.

"I don't know what I am" he yelled, trying to understand a world where he and Hermione Granger could ever be in a relationship, let alone married.

"Go see her. Look into her memories and then decide" Narcissa Malfoy said. "I have nothing left now anyway" she said.

He stood from where he sat, kissed his mother on the top of her head and disapparated to diagon alley.

He spent the morning walking up and down the cobbled street, hoping he might see her. He sat at a recently opened café and ordered a pumpkin juice while he sat, trying to come up with a solution to his problem. Just days ago, he wanted nothing more than to have her and everyone like he eliminated from the face of the planet. Now, he was being told that he hadn't believed in any of it. That his pure blood ways had left him, by his own accord and he had fallen in love with the muggle born.

He sat with his hands in his hands, trying to figure out if he had it in him to kill his mother. If he could take her life on the off chance that he might want to go back to a life and that Granger might allow him back into hers. The thought was unfathomable to him. No way could he see himself in a relationship with her. He loathed her. She loathed him. It couldn't happen.

"You're really becoming a fixture around this place, aren't you?" came a voice from right in front of him. He looked up from his hands and saw the person standing in front of him who he had been looking for all day.

"I need to talk to you" he said, standing, looking into her face, not into her mind this time.

She stepped back, looking shocked. Her face gave her away. She felt something for him.

"I need you to show me. Show me everything" he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking and down the street.

"My mother told me something today, I confronted her when I saw… Well, I saw things yesterday. I need to know. What is the truth. What do I do?" he asked.

She looked at him for a minute, before sitting down.

"Sit" she instructed.

They sat across from each other for a few moments, before he looked into her eyes, allowing her to take him on a journey through their relationship.

He felt like he was in her mind for hours, but it might have been a few minutes at the most. She had shown him a relationship filed with love, passion, understanding and tenderness. He saw himself through her eyes, saw their journey from the cellar to the bank to the battle, her defending him to all her friends and to her parents and through to their wedding and to the last time they saw each other. She showed him what had happened to her afterwards, how she had cried herself to sleep for months, how she had slammed her promise ring and her engagement ring in a safe and shut them away in a Gringotts vault. She had been hospitalised and had barely survived his departure. She showed him her strength upon her recovery, her climb through the ranks of the ministry and into her career as a professor at Hogwarts.

He withdrew at this, stunned and shocked at what he had seen. How could he share these things with the woman before him, who he only knew as his enemy? As one who he had always hated? He was taught to loath everything that she was, from who she is to what she was born as.

"I don't remember any of that. All I know is that I'm supposed to hate you, but seeing that… It just confuses me" he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It wasn't me, these last seven years… I have been under a spell. My mother…" he began, looking up to her tear-filled eyes. "she had me snatched and performed a complex spell, forcing me to make a call, breaking up with you, making me believe that anyone who wasn't pure blood isn't worth knowing. The only way I can break the spell is if I kill her. That's the only way" he said, tears in his eyes matching hers.

"I… I don't know what to say" Hermione said.

"What should I do?" he asked.

"You can't kill your mother, Draco, she's your _mother"_ she said.

"Look what she did… Those memories you have… we were happy, weren't we?" he asked.

"Of course we were" she said.

"So, wouldn't you like to have that back?" he asked.

"It's been 7 years. You said you weren't ever coming back. I waited, but you never came back. I had to move on eventually" she said.

"I don't expect you to have waited around for me. After what I said… If I do this, I don't even know what I'll want when I come out of it" he said.

"Well, I can be here for you, as your friend, nothing more. I have a life. I can't allow myself to get distracted" she said.

"I just don't know what to do. You seem to be the only person who knew the real me. What would I have done, 7 years ago?" he asked.

"Follow your instincts. What is your gut telling you?" she asked.

"I don't know. I'm just so confused. I want to remember… I don't want to lose my mother, but my whole life is based on lie. I can't live like this… I have to make this right" he said, standing up. "It doesn't matter what happens afterwards, I just need to know the truth. I need to remember. I don't have any expectations, I have to do this for me" he said before turning on the spot and leaving Hermione stunned.

XXXX

HERMIONE POV

Hermione stood in stunned silence as she stared at the spot Draco had just disapparated from. She was in total disbelief at what had just happened. It had been a very rough two days since she first ran into him at the book store. She spent the last 7 years trying to move on, trying to get over him, but no matter what she did, who she dated, where she moved to, she never could rid herself of the idea that someday he would come back to her. The revelation that he wasn't in control of who he was at the time was just another thing that brought her heart to a flutter. If what he was saying was true, he was snatched, forced to break it off with her and had his memory modified with a spell she had not ever heard of.

She sat back down at the table where just moments ago, the man who was still legally her husband, had looked into her eyes and together they relived some of the moments that had brought them together. If all of this was true, if he came back, still in love with her, would he want to be with her? Was she strong enough to say no? Did she want to? If he regained all of his memories, he would be the same Draco she fell in love with all those years ago? He would have to kill his mother in order to achieve this. Could he? Would he? Would she want someone who was capable of killing their own mother?

She had told him that she would be his friend. Perhaps that is a good place to start. She would wait here and if he came back, she would judge his state then, offer him her friendship and that is all.

She sat waiting as people walked by. Some she knew, said hello, a couple whose child she taught advanced arithmancy to sat with her for a while before moving on with their day. The sun was beginning to cast long shadows over the cobblestone street before Hermione heard a loud crack behind her. She turned to see Draco's tear stained cheek, staring at her as though he was seeing her for the first time.

"You did it?" she asked.

"I didn't have to, she did it herself" he said.

"Oh, Draco I'm sorry" Hermione said.

"We spoke about everything, she said how sorry she was then she used a muggle gun on herself. I didn't know what to do. I was devastated, there was nothing I could do to save her and as I sat there, all these thoughts came flooding in, all these memories, the battle, the cottage, Australia, the taxi guy…" he said.

Hermione had to stop him there.

"Hey, how about I take you back home to my place and I'll fix you something to eat" she said, taking him by the arm. The feeling of him so close to her was intoxicating to her. Like a drug. She had to act quickly. She disapparated immediately, letting go of him as soon as they were standing in the living room of her home.

"You still live here?" he said.

"Yeah, I didn't see any point in moving when it's just been me" she said.

They both sat down, and she gestured for him to continue.

"The memories and the thoughts that were coming back were nothing compared to the _feelings._ I felt everything, all at once. The way my heart used to beat when I would watch you sleep, the way I felt when you smiled at me, the way it felt to hold you in my arms and how afraid I was, how desperate I was to keep you safe when I was snatched… The worst part of all was the memory of what I did to you. The way your voice sounded, confused and desperate when I was cursed into telling you our life together was a mistake. I can never make up for any of it, but I hope you'll let me try" he said.

Hermione's eyes were filled with tears as she listened to him tell her about regaining all of his memories.

"I will be here for you as your friend Draco. I will support you to regain your life, but I can't allow myself to just drop everything and go back to the life I had 7 years ago. So much has changed" she said.

"But you live here all by yourself. You're not with anyone are you? Can't you give it a shot?" he asked, almost begging her to come back to him.

"Draco, I'm sorry, I just can't go back to that. I will offer you my friendship but that's all I can do, emotionally. I have a life. I'm dating someone. I just can't rewind the last 7 years. I'm sorry that this happened, and I wish it had been different, but I lived through it. I felt it all. I can't just ignore that" she said sadly.

"No, I understand what you're saying. You went through a lot when I went missing. You had no way to know the truth" he said.

"I wanted to believe that it didn't happen, but I heard it from your own mouth. It was your voice. I couldn't _not_ believe it" she said.

He didn't answer, just nodded, accepting what was now his life. He was alone now more than ever.

After a while of her bustling around in the kitchen, she brought him a plate of spaghetti.

"It's nothing special, just reheated left overs" she said, as he tucked into the meal.

"I missed this" he said, smiling at her fondly.

"Yeah, me too" she said.

As they ate in comfortable silence, Hermione allowed herself to imagine what could happen if she allowed him into her heart once again. Could she still have the life she had, with him in it too? One of the reasons she hadn't allowed herself to settle down as of yet, was because she would be gone for most part of the year, working as a Hogwarts teacher. It wasn't fair to commit to someone when she couldn't even guarantee that she would see them at all.

"We're still married you know" she said randomly.

"We are?" he asked.

"I couldn't legally get a divorce or an annulment because I couldn't find you" she said.

"Well, just my luck then. I'm married to the woman I love after all" he said, getting up taking his plate to the kitchen.

He rinsed his plate, finding his way around the kitchen by memory of the single day that he spent there, years ago. Hermione entered the kitchen, watching him move around comfortably and wished more than anything that the last 7 years didn't exist.

As he turned, they came face to face in the entry between the dining room and kitchen. Hermione felt it before she realised it. The electricity between them. That pull that she had felt towards him so many years ago, back with a vengeance as though it had never left.

He looked into her eyes, not searching her memories, but pleading, begging, asking permission. She blinked once and nodded ever so slightly and that is all it took for him to have his lips on hers and his hands on her body. He walked her backwards, back into the kitchen and lifted her up so she was sitting on the bench. She kissed him back like she had been waiting for it all this time. If she were honest, she hadn't been with anyone as passionate as Draco since he left and already, her body was screaming for his touch. She ripped open his shirt, sending buttons flying in all directions as he pulled her jumper off over her head quickly. Their lips barely left one another's as she reached down, unzipping his pants, freeing his bulging erection. He pulled her down off the bench and knelt down, carefully removing her pants and underpants. She wanted this more than anything she had wanted in such a long time. He stood back up after running his hands up the length of her legs, pausing to explore the apex of her thighs before lifting her and setting her down on the edge of the kitchen bench. She wrapped her legs around his body and pulled him close to her. She needed this. He entered her quickly and she gasped. The years had dulled her memory of how big he was. It wasn't a feeling of pain, but a feeling of fulness. He filled her completely, pausing to allow her to get used to the feeling once again.

He kissed her again and she began to move, wordlessly begging him to make love to her. He complied, taking her there on the bench for a short time before carrying her to the couch in the living room where they continued making love into the night, until they both passed out.

 **AN- This is as far as i got today. Back to work tomorrow. I had this planned out for a few weeks and I'm really pleased with how it all came together. Some of the dialogue is not exactly how I would have liked it to go, but cant do much with the time frame in which i smashed it out. Please review. It keeps me going. If i get some good reviews, i will try and get the next chapter out during the week.**


	20. Chapter 20

Hermione awoke mid-morning the following day, alone in her bed, wondering if the previous day had all been a dream. She had vague memories of a night fuelled by passion, desire and primal, instinctual urge. She headed to the bathroom and showered quickly, still contemplating everything that the last 24 hours might mean for her structured life. She dressed and headed downstairs, realising that she wasn't alone in the house.

"Oh, hi" Draco said as she entered the kitchen.

"Good morning" she said, awkwardly. She had no idea how to proceed.

"I made breakfast" he said.

"Thank you, it looks great" she said, taking a seat at the table. "You learnt how to cook" she noted, inspecting the spread before her.

"I did" he said.

There was an awkward silence while they both ate. Hermione had a hundred questions for him but no idea where to begin. In many ways he was still the same, still her _Malfoy_ , but she could tell that the last 7 years had changed him, moulded him into something else.

When the plates were cleared, Hermione stood in the kitchen staring out the window into the garden, trying to think of some way to understand what all this means. She knew she had things to tell him and she knew that regardless of what happened from here, there would be many things that had to change now that Draco was back.

She still had no idea about what to do, if she would allow him to just come back into her life as if nothing had happened. There were also so many other factors to consider.

As she stood rinsing the breakfast dishes, Draco approached her and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I'm really glad I found you" he said.

"I'm glad that you're ok" she said, feeling slightly uneasy about what she had to do.

She turned to face him, seeing the fear and love in his eyes. "We need to talk about all of this at some point" she said.

"I know, I just… I'm grateful to be here" he said, releasing her from his grip.

She made herself a cup of tea and headed out into the garden where there was a beautiful seating area.

Sipping on her tea, Hermione felt a lump in her throat when she thought about what she needed to do. She had to be honest with him and she knew it would hurt him.

Draco sat opposite her on the wicker chair looking at her expectantly.

"I need to know what happened" she said.

"I want to tell you, I do… But I was a different person, I wasn't myself. The things I did and said, the people I associated with… It was the spell, it wasn't me" he said.

"I know that, but I can't have you in my life without knowing" she said.

"So, you want me to stay?" he asked.

"I don't know. There is a lot to consider. My job, my life. You can't just slot back in and expect that you'll fit" she said.

"I can make it fit. I can change. I'll do whatever I need to do to make it work. To make _us_ work. I love you Hermione. I didn't leave you I was taken. I was changed…" he begged.

"I'm seeing someone" she blurted out. It wasn't how she wanted to tell him, but she couldn't go on with this secret hanging over her head and if he was so eager to be with her, he needed to know what it entailed.

He didn't say anything, just looked at her in silence.

"I have been seeing someone, for a while now…" she said more calmly, "… not anything serious but it could be… I just… I had to tell you before anything else" she said.

"So last night…" he began.

"Last night could have been a mistake" she said.

"Not for me" he said quietly.

"It's been seven years Draco. I thought you left me. I was alone. I had to move on. It was hard, it was the hardest thing I've ever done, but I did it. I did the summer school, I did the training, I had a great job, but I was alone" she said.

"I don't know what else I can tell you. I can't say that I'm sorry because I didn't do anything wrong. I came back to the house and was knocked out. I woke up, tied to my bed, my wand gone and then my mother pointed her wand at me and told me to call you and tell you I wasn't coming back. After that I thought I was a death eater and that's the life I lived Hermione. I did some really terrible things, I was a horrible person to so many people, but now I'm sitting here across from you, asking you to give me a chance" he said.

"Tell me about it. I want to know" she said. Clutching her tea in her hands.

"Well, as I said, I woke up in my bed at our house in Belgium and immediately I told her that I was in love with you, that we were married and I had to go back. I begged her to let me go, but she said I had to stay. She cursed me, made me make that call to you, made me believe the pure blood ways, made me think muggles were inferior... The escaped death eaters all gathered around us looking for a leader. At first, they were reluctant because I deflected from Voldemort during the war, but it wasn't long before they were looking to me for answers and guidance. I took some time to teach myself new spells and became stronger. I read books upon books and learnt a lot of dark magic. After about a year or so, no one would talk back to me, no one would disagree with me. I was calling the shots, making the decisions. I was their leader. There were things that I couldn't do though, and I never understood why. I was a muggle hater, that's what she made me, but I always had some excuse not to hurt them. It was like I was waiting for something, something that never came, and I never knew exactly what it was. It was never the right time to make a move, to come out into the open. I opened a shop, selling what we called _antiques_. Then another, then another, all across Europe. I didn't need the money, just the illusion that I was doing something. I had to get my name and my face out there. Appear as though I was doing some legitimate business. Then a few months ago, I was able to make an _acquisition_ and about a week ago, opened the store in Knockturn Alley" he said.

"You had them killed" she said.

"Like I said, I wasn't me. I would never have done anything like that, but I was someone completely different. I had power and it all went to my head. I wanted to be back here, there was an incredibly strong sensation, pulling me back to London and no matter what I did, I couldn't get a way in and I couldn't forget about it. Everything inside of me told me that I had to kill to get what I wanted. I didn't want to, and I didn't ever do it myself. But that's what I had to do to get back. I'm not proud of it Hermione. I'm not proud of anything I did in the last 7 years" he said.

"So what now? All those people don't just go away. Do they know where you are?" she asked.

"I don't know" he said.

"You can have them sent to Azkaban, finally, after all these years. You can finally have these people pay for what they did during Voldemort's time, during the battle" she said.

"I don't care about any of that right now. Right now, Hermione, I want to get my life back. I want to get my _wife_ back. I made you promises that I still intend to keep! I want to know you, to know the things that you have seen and done, to know what you do with your day, what you do at night, who your friends are. More than anything, I want to be with you, I want to be married to you like we envisioned, but I will settle if I have to. I will settle for friends if that's what you need" he said.

"I think that for now, we need to spend some time apart, so I can figure out what it is that I want. This timing is just really awful" she said.

"So, tell me about your life, what have you done?" he asked.

"Well, when you left, I cried for weeks, couldn't go anywhere, do anything. Right up until the day summer classes began I still hadn't left the house. I was afraid that you would show up at school, but when you didn't, that's when I picked myself up, smartened up and made a choice to move on. Anyway, I did really well, finished all my NEWTS with full marks and went directly into the ministry of magic with my choice of what to study. I found myself working my way up the ranks in politics and was the youngest ever witch to be offered the position of minister for magic. It was truly a fantastic opportunity, but I wanted something different for myself. I couldn't see myself being _that_ person just yet. I did some training in teaching and decided to teach arithmancy and revised muggle studies at Hogwarts. I have only been there a year. I completely overhauled the curriculum, teaching everything from language studies to personal studies and geography. Everything that a muggle might learn in a muggle high school" she said.

"You've certainly achieved a lot. I knew you were well respected, one of the best, but I had no idea you. I'm certainly not surprised obviously. I knew you would go far" he said.

"So… I really think that we both need some time to think about all of this. I certainly do. I need to decide what it is I want to do. If I commit to you in any way, you need to be aware that my life is now invested in Hogwarts. I will be gone for extended periods of time. I can't just up and leave a job I've worked so hard to mould into what I love" she said.

He just looked at her and smiled sadly. She wanted to comfort him, to tell him it would be alright. She wanted to choose him, to be with him and to tell him that they could be together again, but knowing how difficult it would be to achieve that, to push aside everything he's seen and done, to completely turn her life upside down now, when she had finally found the thing she loved doing the most… It would prove to be incredibly difficult. But then, in the same token, if she were to say no, to send him away, reject him, she would still be the same person she had been since he left. Poor broken fragile Hermione Granger who fell in love with a death eater and was devastated when he left. Except, he wasn't a death eater. Not really. Of course she had heard the stories of his travels. She knew he was overseas through her contacts in the ministry. She knew he was growing powerful, she knew he had obtained the store in Knocturn alley illegally. She had followed him closely as much as she could, as often as she could, because regardless of what she thought he had done, what he had said to her, she still loved him. Her heart belonged to him. She had made a vow to love him forever, and or some reason, despite her earnest attempts to move forward and her dedication to her career, deep down inside the deepest parts of her soul, she still yearned for him. She craved his presence and if last night was anything to go y, she needed his touch. Sure, she had had on and off again boyfriends in the past, the most recent being someone she felt like she might eventually settle down with, but none of them ever came close to meeting what she had in those short weeks with Draco.

"If I do this, if I try… If I decide to try… you need to go back. Back to that life. Tell them that you're still their leader or whatever it is that you are to them. You need to get them to trust you and then lead them to a trap. They need to be captured. They're the last remaining original death eaters. This will earn you a great deal of respect from the ministry. You will be arrested too, no doubt but my word will go far, and you can prove that you were cursed" she said.

Draco stood and walked to where she sat, sitting next to her. He placed the palm of his hand on her cheek, stroking her face with his thumb.

"I will do whatever it takes Hermione" he said.

"I can't promise anything except that I will try" she said.

He enveloped her in his arms, pulling their bodies closer together. She inhaled the scent of him, the way he felt against her, the way she felt when he was this close.

"Merlin I really missed you" she said.

"I missed you too. I know it sounds crazy, but I truly believe that somehow, you were the thing that was pulling me back" he said, pulling away and looking her in the eyes. "I promise you that no matter what happens, I will do whatever it takes to make it up to you. To make you realise how much you mean to me. I can't change what happened in the past, although I wish I could… But I can change the future. Our future. I want to be your husband and I want you to be proud to call yourself my wife" he said.

"I have some things I need to do" she said, wondering how she was going to break the news to the man who she was supposed to having a date with later on that night.

"And I guess I do too" he said. "No matter what happens, what you hear, what people tell you, don't forget that I love you and everything I do is for you. I am not one of them, but they need to think that I am" he said, kissing her on the forehead gently before standing and disapparating.

Hermione sat with tears in her eyes. She had made up her mind, it seemed.

She headed back inside and placed her tea cup in the kitchen sink. She tidied up a little before sitting on the couch by the phone. She had to make a call that would hurt someone she cared about deeply, but it had to be done. She owed it to herself and to her marriage to let this play out. She picked up the phone and dialled the number she knew so well. She desperately hoped he wouldn't answer but when the familiar voice on the other line said "hello" she knew it would be the catalyst to end what this thing was that she had with him.

"Hey, you're home" she said.

"Hermione, how are you?" he asked.

"I'm ok, Listen, we really need to talk" she said.

"We're going out tonight, can it wait till then?" he asked.

"No, not really. Something has happened. Can you just come around?" she asked.

"uh, ok, sure" he said.

"See you soon then" she said before hanging up the phone.

It wasn't long before there was a knock on her front door. She got up and answered it.

"Hey there, you've got me worried, is everything ok?" he asked.

"No, it's not, not really" she said. "Come in and sit, please" she said, moving back to the couch.

"Hermione, you're worrying me" he said, taking a seat beside her. He took her hands in his as she sat beside him. She instantly knew that it didn't feel right. That it would never feel right and the only hands she wanted were Dracos.

"So, you know how much I appreciate everything you've done for me, all that we've been through, you've been so patient with me, so kind and caring…" she began, being careful to let him know that this isn't his fault. "I really don't even know where to start" she said.

"It's ok, just tell me" he said, worry etched on his face.

"Draco came back" she said, suddenly, shocking herself a bit. She had meant to bring it up slowly, ease into it a bit, but looking into the face of one of the people who had supported her through so much recently, it was hard to drag it out.

"Oh…" he said.

"As you know, we were married before he left" she said.

"Yeah and the git left you out of the blue" he said.

"Well that's the thing, he didn't leave me, not really. Well, he did, but it wasn't his fault. He was snatched. Just like I was. But his memory was altered, he was cursed but the most powerful curse imaginable. I saw him in Diagon Alley and… well things are complicated" she said.

"Does this have anything to do with Narcissa Malfoy dying?" he asked.

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"Hermione, I'm a high-ranking law enforcement officer. It's my job to know everything" he said.

"It does. When she died, the curse was reversed, and he remembered everything about his life before he was snatched. He remembered being with me, out life, our marriage. And he came to me…" she said.

"Right…" he said.

"I was so confused, I _am_ so confused. I really care about you, I do, but I can't ignore these feelings that are creeping up inside because of _him"_ she said, feeling like honesty was best right now.

"How do you know he isn't just running some scam? Like the first chance he gets to have you alone, he won't try and hurt you?" he asked.

"Well, I know he isn't and I know that he won't because he was here last night. We were alone, here, together last night" she said.

He looked around the room, as if looking for some kind of sign of Malfoy. He stood up, walking around, into the kitchen and beyond.

"He isn't here… anymore" she said.

"You realise what you're doing, right?" he asked.

"Yes, I do… You know what, actually, no I don't. I really have no idea what I'm doing" she said.

"Here, let me help you then… You told me just two weeks ago that you wanted to be with me, that we could try to be together. We've had some great dates, we slept together Hermione. For me, that kind of counts for something. Now you're telling me that the second _he_ comes into your field of vision that you're prepared to throw this away _again_? After everything we've been through?" he asked, bringing up the one thing she knew would cause the most pain.

"I know, and at the time, I mean it. I truly wanted to be with you. I have been in a lot of pain for so long. I pushed away everybody who ever meant anything to me because of this exact fear. When I finally let my guard down, I get stomped on. I didn't mean to do it to you the first time and I don't mean it now" she said.

"I just don't know what to do anymore Hermione. I can't be that pathetic guy anymore who stands by watching you fail with randoms, picking up the pieces year after year, all the while, being in love with you wondering when you'll let me show you. If this is what you want, I can't stand by anymore. If you choose to be with Malfoy, I have to walk away. I have to give up on you" he said.

"I wouldn't expect you to be ok with it. I don't expect you to stay" she said. "But I do expect you to be my friend"

"Your friend? I don't even know if that's possible" he said.

"Well if you can't do that, can you do one thing?" she asked.

"Sure" he said.

"You job?" she asked. When he just looked at her quizzically, she continued. "Draco is lining up his followers,so they can be rounded up and captured. It will take some coordination, but I think with his information, your department should handle it ok" she said, "But he gets off free" she added.

"That's not going to happen. Your _husband_ is responsible for loads of attacks all throughout Europe. He is not an innocent person in all of this" he said.

"He had no idea what he was doing, he didn't want to do any of it and if you did any investigation you will know, as I do, that he actually didn't do anything. I tried, remember? I tried to get him on something, anything. For years. Even his businesses are squeaky clean. He is willing to do this, to turn his empire upside down and hand over every single person involved. This means all the loose ends that couldn't be tied up after the war will be solved. This is a huge thing for your career" she said.

"What a trade-off… My love for my career" he said.

"It's not like that" she said.

"It sure feels like it…. Make the arrangements and let me know. I'll set the ball in motion quietly" he said.

She hugged him, knowing that it might be the last time she is able to and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Ron," she said, and he got up, headed for the door and left.

 **AN- Who knew it was Ron all along? Pretty obvious that it would have to be him. I thought about making it Harry but the cruel irony of it happening AGAIN to poor Ron was too tempting. Poor Ron. Hopefully he finds someone.**


	21. Chapter 21

Hermione sat in her office, looking out the window at the brand new first years having their flying lessons. Some were quite shaky, a few couldn't get their brooms off the ground, as she herself had struggled to do in her own first flying lesson. It all seemed so long ago, but also felt like yesterday. She often relived her Hogwarts days, strolling through the corridors, some old and some new, cherishing the moments that were dear to her and trying to forget those that still caused her nightmares 24 years after the battle.

She watched as her God-Son's broom lifted off the grass effortlessly, as though it were an extension of his body. She knew that Harry's son would be a natural. A seeker for sure, like both of his parents and his three sisters. Harry was still working at the ministry of magic as head of the Auror department, no longer going out on expeditions, but advising from his desk on complex cases and offering training scholarships to disadvantaged young people. His marriage to Ginny was still as strong as ever and while he climbed the ranks to be the number one Auror in the wizarding world, Ginny succeeded as Captain and Seeker for the HolyHead Harpies until she retired to have a family. Harry and Ginny had had a marvellous life, having three beautiful daughters and a son. Harry loved his girls desperately, but when their son was born it was as though he was a new man. Harry didn't push his son Albus to be like him, it just happened so naturally. It was like history repeating itself, although, while Albus looked just like Harry, he had Ginny's red hair and Harry's mother's eyes. As all of their children did. Perhaps a sign that Lilly was never far from their lives? Albus was the youngest, at 12 and his sisters Dora aged 14, Minnie and Molly who were 16 year old twins, were quite protective. The twins reminded Hermione so much of Fred and George, it was almost as if the trouble making twins were still both alive. They were also both quite skilled beaters and played on the Gryffindor team since their second year. Dora was the only one of their children to have Harry's black hair and the two shared a close bond, however, she didn't play quidditch or find it remotely interesting, choosing to spend her time on her learning, an attribute which Hermione recognised as belonging to her teenage self. Hermione was incredibly close with Harry, Ginny and their children, being god mother to Dora and Albus. The Potters were still world renowned but had managed to live a much simpler life following the war.

Despite it being taught in school, none of the children knew or ever understood the complete extent of what had happened throughout the war years. No one who didn't experience it ever would, Hermione doubted. If anyone knew the devastating impact of the war, it was Hermione. She had suffered so much, sacrificed so much, that she was unrecognisable from her former self. She was harder now, less rigid but at the same time, tougher. She owed a lot of that not only to her experiences in the war and the loss and devastation she experienced, but to her successes, to her triumphs to her family and to her mentors. She looked around the circular room at the paintings on the walls. The most notable, Albus Dumbledore, would often provide her with cryptic words of wisdom from his post. The others would often nod in approval at the amazing changes she had made since starting here, and some would scold her and criticize her 'modern ways'. She had never planned on becoming headmistress, but like most things in Hermione's life that she cherished most, it just sort of happened.

She looked to the four framed pictures that stood on her desk. In one picture, a girl, aged 16 with flaming bushy red hair and freckles was waving to the camera. In another, a smaller girl, aged 14 quite slender and very blonde was looking into the camera with a look of interest. She would wave every so often, but it was a shy wave. This girl was different to her older sister in so many ways, but also, very much the same. Then in the third picture, a boy who was the image of his father at the age of 13. Tall, pointed chin with blonde hair and a sly look on his face like he was up to something. He was mischievous but always on the side of good. The last picture was a group photo with herself, her three children and her husband, Draco. The family was laughing and being silly and having the most amazing time. The family collapsed into a heap on the grass in the photo, laughing, and coordinated themselves into a nice pose for the camera. They smiled and waved before getting up and starting all over again. The three children could not be any more different, but they were _her_ three children and she adored them more than anything.

She recalled the circumstances surrounding her discovery of being pregnant with her first. It was quite a shock and the last thing any of them expected.

Draco had been remanded in prison, due to his involvement with the death eaters, however, with Hermione's sway, he was proven innocent and released. She had thought that the stress of the trial was making her feel sick, but once he was released and things were beginning to be normal, she wasn't getting any better. A doctor confirmed that she was pregnant, but the biggest surprise was that the baby was not the child of the man she loved. It was not that of her husband, the one she planned to begin a new life with, adventure with, but the baby of the man she had received comfort from, prior to Draco returning. The man she had loved all her life, in some way, and thought she could settle for when she thought her husband would never return. Her first baby, her now 16 year old daughter, Rose, was Ron Weasley's child. The idea of Hermione and Draco raising Ron's baby sent shockwaves through the entire wizarding world. The Weasleys were at a loss with how to manage the situation and Draco was numb. Hermione struggled throughout most of her pregnancy, not only with the toll the pregnancy took on her body physically, but emotionally she barely coped. She found herself constantly trying to justify the baby's existence to the rest of the world, while juggling her career and her marriage. It was a long struggle, it was incredibly exhausting for Hermione, but from the moment she saw her baby, all of that stopped. She eventually figured out how to co-parent with Ron and his family and Draco was able to move beyond the idea that he had a part in raising another man's baby. When Hermione found out a year later that she was pregnant again, the whole experience was different. While Rose's existence was, at that point, a blessing for everyone who loved her, Hermione and Draco's first child together, Lyra was a far more relaxed affair. Their third child, Scorpius, was the son that Draco always wanted. The son that he was to his own father, without the violence, the prejudice and the ego.

She began to think about all the people who she had gone to school with and whose children she had taught or mentored in some way. There were many parents who she had met with prior to their children beginning Hogwarts, and over the last ten years or so, so many of their children had come through the ranks and many had gone on to become quite successful.

Teddy Lupin graduated in the top of his class early and went on to become a successful healer. He dedicated himself to his work and was able to successfully combine many muggle and wizarding methods to effectively heal people who had previously thought to be incurable. His most notable accomplishments, the reversal of Neville's parents insanity and the near development of a cure for werewolves. He was so young but in a muggle world would be considered a 'genius'. Hermione felt proud to have known his parents the way that she had, and she knew that they would have been proud to see him succeed and help as many people as he had done.

Neville Longbottom was now a colleague of Hermione's, teaching at Hogwarts as the Herbology Professor. He had trialled a brief romance with Luna, however it didn't work out and she moved on to a relative of Newt Scamander. Neville was quite renowned as an eligible bachelor, having transformed in his young adulthood into a handsome, professional, successful person. Hermione just guessed that he never really found the right person to settle down with and preferred his single life, with the soil.

Hagrid still occupied the cabin by the woods and performed his GameKeeper role well. He eventually gave up his teaching role, focusing on his work around the grounds. Hermione often considered if she should retire Hagrid, but thought better, that he would never accept retirement and he'd sooner die in his hut than leave it. Hogwarts was Hagrids life. He almost _gave_ his life for the school and she would never see him leave, as long as she had some standing in the world.

Hermione was still in regular contact with Ron, who was now married to a witch who was from Australia. Together they had two young children who were yet to begin at Hogwarts. It took a long time for Ron to find his path to happiness and while he went through a lot of emotional turmoil to get there, he was now happier than she had ever seen him.

Many of the teachers had moved on, being replaced by up and coming names in the wizarding world. The Defence against the dark arts post had, on many occasions been offered to Harry, however, Draco had eventually ended up taking the position, and stuck to it, with the curse long gone. This gave Hermione and Draco the opportunity to see each other as much as possible. Their relationship, while it had its regular ups and downs and was occasionally made complicated by Hermione's role as his boss, was still as strong as ever.

Malfoy Manor and Malfoy's Antiques had eventually been all sold off, with a lot of the profits going into scholarship funds for muggle borns who don't have access to Diagon Alley to obtain their essential items. The new Malfoys had purchased the shrieking shack at Hogsmead, knowing the true story of the location and had rebuilt a beautiful home on the land. During the holidays, Hermione, Draco and their three children would live in their home like a regular family.

Hermione and her family visited Australia in the holidays and her parents adored their children. Hermione's parents had a wonderful life in Australia and even had links with the magical work over there. They continued to create change in the field of dentistry, teaching the country's next dentists and treating the people who couldn't afford to pay for what was normally high priced services.

Hermione watched out the window once again, as the young witches and wizards began to fly low across the grass. She turned and headed out the door, travelling down the steps that were still led by the stone gargoyle. She walked through the corridors, smiling to the students who greeted her warmly. She loved each of her students almost as much as she loved her own children. As she passed by the DADA classroom, she paused to watch her husband deliver his class, expertly with the classes full attention. He had a way with words, he was able to take something simple and turn it into a marvellous exciting adventure that the children were always enthralled by. While there had been no threats of dark magic in over 16 years, Hermione knew that it was still essential that young witches and wizards were ready.

It was almost as if her life was too perfect. Often she had experienced restless nights wondering what would be next, what the next challenge would be, how much more she could tolerate. In the early hours of the morning, she would sit in her office looking out into the great black lake, sipping a cup of tea and realise that she had already experienced a lifetime of hurt, and most of it occurred before she was 20. She had experienced that hurt but had become a far better witch for it. She had grown from what she had experienced and used her pain as a driving factor for her success and triumph.

The wizarding world was safe, Hermione's world was quiet. Everything was as it should be and Hermione was happy.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **AN- Thank you all for staying with this fanfic throughout its entirety. It went far beyond my initial idea but overall, turned out how i had hoped. I hope you all aren't too bothered with the time jump during the last couple of chapters. It was kind of pointless to go through it all. If anyone has any loose ends they think i should tie up, let me know and i'll add another chapter. However, this is it. This is the end :-) :-D 3**


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